Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1055150
18 | DECEMBER 2018 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk The Works: water quality Before: The bare, oxidised peat was prone to be washed away in heavy rain A er: The restored environment is better for both wildlife and water quality W ith only 14 per cent of rivers in England classed as healthy, it is a huge challenge to get our waterways fit for purpose, not only for water customers and businesses, but also for the wildlife that relies on healthy water to survive. Freshwater ecosystems are the most threatened on the planet, and we have seen huge declines in plants, mammals, birds, fish and insects around British waterways in the last 50 years. The scale of the environmental problem in our waterways means that no one sector can solve it on its own. That's why 20 environ- mental NGOs, co-ordinated by Blueprint for Water, and nine water companies have pulled together to create a set of shared ways of work- ing setting out how they will work together to help leave the environment in a better state. The shared principles include: greater collaboration on policy and projects; promoting greater awareness of the links between water management and the natural environment; working together to achieve and build upon Water Framework Directive obligations; sharing key data sets; and joint efforts to enhance and improve the resilience of water-based ecosystems. Water companies and nature charities are already working together on many exciting and innovative on-the-ground projects across England on a huge range of environmental is- sues, from tackling pollution, to natural water filtering, to public engagement. These projects have had some dramatic successes and show the very real benefits that a joint approach has for helping wildlife and ecosystems to recover and thrive, and for companies to deliver sustainable changes which can provide ef- fective and cost-saving solutions to business problems. One such successful on-the-ground joint project is RSPB's partnership with United Utilities at Dove Stone – an area of open moorland above the Dove Stone reservoir in A partnership between United Utilities and the RSPB to help restore moorland peat bogs near Manchester illustrates how environmental NGOs and water companies can work together to make a difference on water quality Getting through the bog of water deterioration together