SUSTAINABILITY

AROUND THE REGIONS
Cornwall
RNAS Culdrose
4
Hawk aircraft from 736 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) flying over Loe Pool with the sea behind © Crown
Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose,
located in West Cornwall in an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty, places
great importance in its relationships
with the local area and community. Just
1km from the MOD boundary is Loe
Pool, a Site of Special Scientific Interest
which along with the Penrose Estate, is
in the care of the National Trust. Loe
Pool is the largest natural freshwater
lake in Cornwall and is cut off from the
sea by a broad shingle bar heaped up
by heavy Atlantic seas.
Loe Pool is a truly beautiful place – no
wonder organisations and individuals
strive to improve the water
environment to encourage plant and
wildlife to flourish. Unfortunately, the
pool has historically suffered from
eutrophication, a process where
nutrients in the water feed algae. This
leads to algal blooms, which reduce
the oxygen levels in the water causing
diffcult conditions for aquatic life.
investigate the impact that the STW
was having on the pool. There are six
tributaries flowing into Loe Pool and
these were sampled every week for a
year by National Trust volunteers. The
Environment Agency then used this
information to apply a phosphorous
limit to the discharge permit at KWSD
STW: KWSD and Defence Infrastructure
Organisation (DIO) have invested
upwards of £1m upgrading the ST W to
ensure compliance with these new
environmental permit conditions.
KWSD hosted an open day for all
interested parties to have a tour and
see the improvements. Personnel from
RNAS Culdrose, including the Head of
Establishment, Captain Adrian Orchard
OBE RN, attended the event, as well as
representatives of South West Water,
Helston College, Natural England,
Cornwall Wildlife Trust, DIO, the
University of Exeter, the Environment
Agency, members of the Loe Pool
forum and the National Trust. This
open day was a great success,
reinforcing for the attendees the
passion for improving the water
quality in Loe Pool. It also attracted
the interest of BBC News, who
broadcast a piece about the pool
shortly af terwards.
The phosphorus levels being
discharged from the ST W have
decreased from around 5mg/l to less
than 1mg/l. This is a significant
decrease and a real win for the
environment. The impact that this has
on the water quality will be monitored
over the coming years.
Sarah Maiden
Environmental Manager
Kelda Water Services
Tim Gibb
SHE Advisor
RNAS Culdrose
A potential cause of this problem was
the Kelda Water Services (Defence)
(KWSD) sewage treatment works (STW)
at RNAS Culdrose, home to
approximately 3000 military personnel.
Consequently a group of organisations
came together a few years ago to
The group at the open day alongside the filter beds at the ST W © Kelda Water Services
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Sanctuary 44 • 2015