South West Water has launched a new project with the engagement platform Hello Lamp Post to find out how people use the River Dart for recreational activity.
The work is part of a £3.9 million pilot project being delivered by South West Water at both the rivers Dart and Tavy to understand what is needed to secure inland bathing water designation.
Hello Lamp Post is a communications platform which allows members of the public to have interactive conversations with places of interest. It works by placing signage with QR codes at selected locations, where people are encouraged to scan the QR code with their mobile phones to start the chat. From here, people will be prompted to share their real-time feedback about their experience of the river.
The technology will be used by South West Water to share information about water quality with the community, understand who is using the river and why, and capture people’s perceptions of the river throughout the year. The posters will be placed between Staverton and Dartmouth on the River Dart.
New Project to Help River Dart Achieve Bathing Water Status
The data gathered will be shared with stakeholders and community groups, including Friends of the Dart, to support future applications for inland bathing water designation by providing evidence of how the river is used recreationally.
If successful, the application would see a river in the region receives designated bathing water status for the first time, with only a handful of other designated bathing rivers across the country.
Carolyn Cadman, Director of Natural Resources at South West Water, said: “We are pleased to be teaming up with Hello Lamp Post and Friends of the Dart on this project as we look to gather data on how people interact with the River Dart. We know the significant value that our rivers and inland waters have to communities across the region and this work is an important step in understanding what is required to receive official bathing water status for rivers in the South West.”
Hannah Pearson, Chair at Friends of The Dart, said: “We are pleased to be working collaboratively with South West Water with the aim of achieving bathing water standards on the length of the River Dart. This work is essential to protect water quality and river ecology, while supporting the health and wellbeing of our local communities. The Hello Lamp Post project will help us to evidence the community’s interaction with and experience of the river. We are documenting river users both through the Hello Lamp Post scheme and our Friends of the Dart water contact log and survey on our website. We will be applying for official designation in areas where this is appropriate.”
The South West region is already home to 150 designated coastal bathing waters. The pilot project will explore how South West Water might begin taking the same approach to river bathing waters, starting with two rivers that are popular for recreation.
The pilot project is part of South West Water’s Green Recovery Initiative, which seeks to increase the company’s environmental investment by £92 million over the next three years, supporting sustainable job creation, improving river quality, and safeguarding the water supplies communities depend on.
As part of the pilot, monitoring has already begun at both rivers to assess where investment may be needed if designation were granted.
