Bristol City Council tests water quality in Bathurst Basin once a week and, with our help, Bristol Avon Rivers Trust test water quality every month. Students from the University of Bristol Geography Department are trained to test water quality. In September they were testing water in Bathurst Basin – two of them shown in our image. Like the City Council tests, the students’ tests also cover e.coli. Two days before the students were testing, the Council issued a warning about water quality, a warning issued when the e.coli reading is above 5,000 CFUs at the Baltic Wharf site. On 24th September the readings were 8,100 CFUs at Baltic Wharf and 5,600 CFUs in Bathurst Basin. The Council advises all water users to take precaution.
These are not the highest readings in recent times: on 5th December 2023 the e.coli reading in Bathurst Basin was 25,900 CFUs. High e.coli readings typically follow heavy rainfall and discharges of treated and untreated sewage into the harbour. The Rivers Trust keep count of sewage discharges in England and Wales. They report 12 discharges in 2023 from the Wessex Water’s Avon Street sewer, and 14 and 11 discharges from the two Wessex Water outlets along Hotwell Road.