RIVER TESTING SCHEME

The River Testing and Flag Scheme was officially opened by Mayor Tom Taylor today.

The River Teme is a popular location for bathing and playing in, particularly during the hot weather we are having. It also supports a wide variety of wildlife, including salmon, brown trout, otters, kingfishers, herons and dippers.

Woodland Tots is an outdoor playgroup, held in Offa’s Dyke Park, which the River Teme flows through.

Group leader, Toni Pettitt, says, “We’ve been testing the river since 2022 to ensure the safety of the community, so this scheme lets everybody know when bacterial levels are high and it is not advisable to go in the river.”

The scheme supported by the Severn Rivers Trust has been funded by the Co op Community Fund, with a “Brilliant Basics” grant from Powys C.C. with 30% match funding from Knighton Town Council. This covered training and information board and testing equipment for phosphate and nitrate levels, but not the bacterial (ecoli) testing equipment, which was paid for by Knighton Town Council.

Photo From Left: Anne Mary Davis (River Tester), Toni Pettitt (Group Leader), four Woodland Tots, Mayor Tom Taylor, Cllr Chris Bevan