Isle of Man: most watercourses have good chemical classification

While the UK is rocked by several river pollution cases, watercourses in the Isle of Man have been found in good health. After performing a new round of water tests, the Department of Environment, Food & Agriculture’s Environmental Protection Unit said that 98% of monitored sites had an “excellent” or “good” chemical classification. The classification is based on biochemical oxygen demand, dissolved oxygen, and ammonia. Water samples are routinely collected from 86 locations across the island and assessed against the standards set out in the Water Pollution (Standards and Objectives Scheme) 2020. Seventeen sites are also surveyed for heavy metals presence. The latest test results met the expected standards, although 80% of sites had an excessive amount of dissolved zinc. However, this seems largely due to historic mining activity.