Five Months!

Five months of lost business.
Five months of inconvenience.
Five months of increased business costs.
Five months of worry.
Five months of Blue/Green Algae.

I hope five months has been long enough for the authorities to put a plan in place to make sure this does not happen to Llyn Padarn again. They do seem to realise that improvements are needed. Welsh Water are trying to find a more effective position in the treatment process for the removal of phosphate, this should give an improvement on previous performance. Welsh Water are also carrying out maintenance work on the sewers on the way to Llanberis water treatment works to prevent the infiltration of lake water into the system, this should save the treatment works being hindered by the high flow rates it has been experiencing. The Environment Agency is also reviewing the different capacities of Llyn Padarn for things like phosphates. I am sure that they will also update the discharge consent level for the treatments works and bring it down to lake levels rather than continuing to allow discharge at river levels.

At least the lake is now clear of this menace.

New advice from the Environment Agency.

In June of this year the EA and Gwynedd Council gave warning that Llyn Padarn had high levels of toxic blue/green algae. This is naturally occurring but never, as far as I have known, been present in dangerous levels in Llyn Padarn. As the algae presented a health risk to people and animals I decided that it would be unacceptable for me to make the decision to expose my customers to this risk. From June onwards I have not used LLyn Padarn for any of my kayaking, canoeing or raft building activities. This is despite having a centre directly on the shores of the lake. As I write, this now totals four months of increased hassle and cost of running my business with no immediate end in sight.

What now wrangles is that the environment agency is now recommending that people should be switching to more ecologically sound detergents to help limit the level of nutrients making it through the water system into the lake. This education in its own right is commendable but costs me more in my operating costs. Surely it is also an admission that the sewage treatment works for Llanberis cannot cope with current demand, although Welsh Water claim this not to be the case. A report compiled in June by the EA noted it was likely that improvements to the Llanberis treatment works would be needed to ensure that the lake meet the requirements of the EC Water Framework Directive. Why on earth are we now trying to sort out a problem like this when the lake is apparently monitored so regularly? The EA advice could have been given earlier or Welsh Water should have ensured their treatment works was capable of dealing with increased levels of nutrients.

Hopefully Llanberis can lower its output of phosphates and nutrients to a point where they are manageable by the manmade and natural water systems that have to deal with them. If not, the worst case scenario may be that another hot summer may produce the same results. So far the algal blooms must have affected most outdoor centres and providers in North West Snowdonia. Three of these have a centre on the shores of Llyn Padarn with many more no more than fifteen minutes drive away. The blooms have also had a major impact of the fisheries of the Seiont River meaning two significant tourism industries have been restricted in operating when the recession is causing additional demands already.

Surely now that it is apparent that the local council, Welsh Water, the Environment Agency and the Welsh Assembly all know about this very serious problem, it is time for all involved to take responsibility for this environmental disaster and cure the problem causing it.

The sun is back.

Summer seems to be here again after having a break for August. This was great as it coincided with a day’s coasteering I was running for the RAF. What a great group to work with as we managed to get loads done covering a massive distance with plenty of swimming as it was such a still day.

The group climbing up to the jumps.

The view down the headland at Nefyn Golf Course.

It was also great that it was such a nice weekend as I was spending the Saturday night camping up in Yorkshire for my brothers stag do. Once the coasteering was finished it was back home shower, change vans and a four hour drive to the home of Black Sheep Ale, Masham. I think you can take a fairly good guess as to the events proceedings; needless to say the gang had late breakfast on Sunday before we all departed. This made for a good nights drinking for me, a good day of quad biking, brewery tours and drinking for the rest.

The Black Sheep Ale.

Unfortunately there is a downside to the nice weather as it seems like the toxic blue green algae in Llyn Padarn may benefiting from the sunshine after giving the impression that it was starting to disappear. This problem of the algae first came to light in June of this year and three months on there still seems to be no conclusive answers as to what has caused the problem. I do know however that is having a noticeable effect on local business and residents. This morning I have had a meeting with Alun Ffred Jones the local AM to express my concerns and hope to hear more from him soon.