Pupil praised for sewage tracking innovation
IRIS - Cornish pupil uses satellite images to track sewage pollution in rivers
- Arthur, 13, hopes the technology will identify areas where sewage is frequently discharged
- It works by identifying levels of chlorophyll in the water
- His approach has won praise from Surfers Against Sewage
A Cornish school pupil is using satellite imagery to track sewage pollution in rivers.
Arthur, 13, who attends Mullion School near Helston in Cornwall, said he had adapted existing satellite image feeds to monitor the pollution that sampling stations could be missing.
It shows the amount of chlorophyll in the water, produced by algae which grows rapidly in polluted water.
This "star's eye" view is feeding back live information on the state of our waterways, he said.
IRIS He said his tracking system could help identify areas where frequent discharges were happening.
Arthur added: "I wanted to find a way to track pollution so that people could see what was really happening to our rivers and by using satellites we get a really good view of the whole national network of waterways.
"Spotting sewage from space makes it easier to identify the times and places where discharges should be banned to avoid rivers already showing high levels of pollution.”
In April, South West Water was fined a record amount of more than £2.1m after admitting causing pollution in Devon and Cornwall.
The Institute for Research in Schools (IRIS), a charity which supports students who participate in authentic scientific research, said tracking sewage could be used to decrease levels of pollution in areas without sophisticated water quality monitoring.
It said this could then "inform regulators who use this programme to decide whether or not to allow water companies to discharge raw sewage into rivers".
Arthur used Sentinel Hub to access satellite imagery of UK rivers.
He then applied a filter to track water quality in a new application of the technology.
IRIS said this satellite sewage-watch capability has potentially "far-reaching implications for environmental enforcement".
Dr Marieke Royle, a teacher at Mullion School said: “Arthur has found a really simple and elegant method to enable dynamic monitoring of water quality, which has great potential."
A Surfers Against Sewage spokesman said: "Arthur's ingenious approach to tracking sewage in our waters should be another powerful tool in the campaign for clean rivers and seas and we can't praise him enough for this incredible innovation."
Arthur's work was due to be showcased alongside other pupils' at an IRIS conference in Exeter on Tuesday.
Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].