00:00The River Stour is one of Kent's major waterways, running through Canterbury and supporting communities.
00:06Wildlife and agriculture lie along its catchment, with a number of different species living along it too.
00:12It might seem peaceful here at the River Stour, but there are growing concerns about what's actually in the water.
00:18Today, volunteers will be testing out for pollutants including ammonia, nitrates and phosphates
00:24as part of a wider effort to understand what's actually affecting its health.
00:28The event is part of Stour Valley River Fest, a week-long celebration of the River Stour and its environment,
00:34running across Canterbury this week.
00:37Leading the event is Dr Ian Goodall, who founded the Stour monitoring programme known as STOMP.
00:42He says more monitoring is needed to understand exactly what is affecting the river.
00:47As organisms living as part of a wider biological system, it's not just us, it's everything else around us that
00:54gets impacted.
00:55So when there are these sewage releases, incorporated in the sewage are a wide range of different pollutants as well.
01:04So it's a necessary requirement to make sure that these companies are doing what they are supposed to do
01:12and that they are upholding their side of the social construct.
01:16The focus on pollution comes as Southern Water was fined with £2.4 million earlier this week over incidents elsewhere
01:24in Kent.
01:25But the Stour has pollution concerns of its own.
01:28Data shows a storm overflow in Canterbury discharged into the Great Stour seven times in 2025.
01:34I contacted Southern Water for a response.
01:37They said they're investing £209 million to upgrade wastewater treatment works and reduce nutrients entering rivers,
01:44including within the Stour catchment.
01:46They also added that £88 million is being spent on storm overflow improvements in the catchment too.
01:53And testing isn't just looking for sewage.
01:55The Stour can be affected by a range of pollutants.
01:58What we've learned from the event today is just the incredible range of different kinds of pollution that you wouldn't
02:03think of.
02:04For example, what surprised me, the levels of caffeine and nicotine from human activity going into the river
02:12and affecting fish in the same way that they affect human beings.
02:16And it's an incredible toxic mix in the river.
02:20And that's why it's so important to have this expert scientific knowledge for how to assess these things
02:25and how to look at where they're coming from and what to do about it.
02:30With testing continuing, volunteers hope the data they collect will help identify pollution sources
02:35and support efforts to improve the Stour's water quality.
02:39Sephora Mamat for KMTV in Canterbury.
