Case 1 - Peatland catchment research on water colour yields economic benefits for the water industry
Submitting Institution
University of LeedsUnit of Assessment
Geography, Environmental Studies and ArchaeologySummary Impact Type
EnvironmentalResearch Subject Area(s)
Earth Sciences: Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
Environmental Sciences: Ecological Applications, Environmental Science and Management
Summary of the impact
The water industry sources significant drinking waters from peatland
catchments and faces major water discolouration problems due to dissolved
organic carbon (DOC) caused by peat degradation. DOC has to be removed to
meet strictly regulated drinking water standards and to eliminate
disinfection by-products. One proven, but expensive industry solution uses
Magnetic Ion Exchange (MIEX) at treatment works. Research at the School of
Geography (SoG) investigated catchment management as a potentially longer
term, more sustainable treatment solution that addresses the problem at
source. Yorkshire Water (YW) has subsequently adopted recommended
practices, and has invested [text removed for publication] in catchment
solutions yielding wider environmental benefits.
Underpinning research
Significant contributions to the work have been made by a number of SoG
staff, including lead academics Prof Adrian McDonald (at Leeds
1972-present, Professor since 1992), Prof Joseph Holden (at Leeds
since 2000, NERC fellow 2002-5, currently Professor), Dr Paul Kay
(Research Fellow 2005-10, currently Associate Professor), Dr Pippa Chapman
(Leeds academic 1999-present, currently Reader), Dr Sheila Palmer
(SoG Lecturer, 2005-present), and postdoctoral researchers Dr Richard Grayson
(2007-present), Dr Antony Blundell (2008-present), Dr Alona Armstrong
(2006-7, now at Lancaster University) and Dr Zoe Wallage
(2003-2007; 2011-2013).
The research focused on the development, evaluation and implementation of
peatland management strategies to reduce or stabilise (in light of a
40-year upward trend in DOC) the significant deterioration of raw water
quality. Research comprised a range of studies including large scale field
experiments, plot studies and modelling. This has included funded projects
including a NERC postdoctoral Fellowship held by Holden
(Hydrological, fine sediment and water colour response of managed upland
wetlands, 2002-05, £110,000); a NERC EMBER project involving Brown,
Holden and Palmer (EMBER: Effects of Moorland Burning on
the Ecohydrology of Rivers, 2009-12, £643,000) and two NERC CASE
studentships (Aspray and Ramchunder, supervised by Holden and Brown),
as well as novel research proposals that were developed in conjunction
between SoG staff and YW and then funded as collaborative research. As a
result of the work the SoG had undertaken, YW established a formal
partnership with the SoG in 2005 to streamline research and development
activity. This contract originally ran until 2010 but was subsequently
renewed until 2015.
Work from Holden's NERC Fellowship [i.e. 1-2] showed that
peatland drains were responsible for increased colour production and
sediment release in peatlands and that blocking drains could significantly
reduce DOC and sediment production. Subsequent large scale field trials
showed that investment in this activity would provide net financial
benefits in terms of reduced costs to water companies at larger scales and
developed best practice for drain blocking techniques [4]. The
team also used empirical data and process understanding formed from the
research to develop a colour risk model [3] which provides spatial
maps showing which areas of land have the potential to deliver the worst
colour and where improvements could be best achieved via land management
interventions.
The research demonstrated wider detrimental effects of peatland drainage
on hydrological function and aquatic ecosystems (and the recovery of
aquatic ecosystems that could be expected after drain blocking [e.g.
5]). The research also found negative impacts of moorland burning on
DOC and on stream aquatic ecosystems and has shown that the negative
impacts of prescribed burning on the peat system are very strongly evident
in the peat archaeological record at key YW sites over the past 100 years.
The research also provided the first indication that peatland vegetation
cover may influence colour production [e.g. 4]. Research continues
to investigate drainage, burning and vegetation cover manipulation on
major catchment-scale trials to refine best practice for peatland
management for multiple benefits. Results indicate that peatland
restoration measure will provide benefits that continue to accumulate over
several decades as hydrological restoration permits the peat forming
vegetation to recover.
References to the research
The results of this research have been published in a range of
internationally recognised peer-reviewed journals. The research was
supported by grants including a NERC fellowship and a NERC grant. Outputs
1 and 2 were included in the School of Geography's return for RAE 2008
(95% of which was classified as at least 2* quality).
Selected research papers:
1. First demonstration that natural peatland pipes might be influenced by
land drainage leading to subsurface erosion:
HOLDEN, J. (2006) Sediment and particulate carbon removal by pipe
erosion increase over time in blanket peatlands as a consequence of land
drainage. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, F02010,
doi:10.1029/2005JF000386
2. Demonstration that drain blocking as a management strategy could
reduce water discolouration:
WALLAGE, Z.E., HOLDEN, J. and MCDONALD, A.T. (2006) Drain
blocking is an effective treatment for reducing dissolved organic carbon
loss and water colour in peatlands. The Science of the Total Environment
367, 811-821, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.02.010
3. Modelling to link land management to water quality and assist with
planning and land management change strategies and priorities for water
companies:
GRAYSON, R., KAY, P. & FOULGER, M. (2008). The use of GIS and
multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) to identify agricultural land management
practices which cause surface water pollution in drinking water supply
catchments. Water Science and Technology, 58.9, 1797-1802, doi:
10.2166/wst.2008.569
4. Evidence that drain blocking benefits water quality in peat systems in
a paper co-authored with Yorkshire Water staff.
ARMSTRONG, A., HOLDEN, J., KAY, P., FRANCIS, B., FOULGER, M.,
GLEDHILL, S., MCDONALD, A. & WALKER, A. (2010). The impact of
peatland drain-blocking on dissolved organic carbon loss and
discolouration of water: results from a national survey. Journal of
Hydrology, 381, 112-120, doi: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.11.031
5. Demonstrates the impacts of upland peat restoration on stream
ecosystems:
RAMCHUNDER, S.J., BROWN, L.E. & HOLDEN, J. (2012)
Catchment-scale peatland restoration benefits stream ecosystem
biodiversity. Journal of Applied Ecology. 49: 182-91, doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2664.2011.02075.x
Selected grants:
NERC Fellowship, Hydrological, fine sediment and water colour response of
managed upland wetlands, 2002-05, £110,000 (HOLDEN)
NERC Grant, EMBER: Effects of Moorland Burning on the Ecohydrology of
Rivers, 2009-12, £643,000, BROWN (PI), HOLDEN, PALMER
(Co-Is)
Details of the impact
Research in SoG has had a major impact on YW's asset management strategy
because, following the research-based recommendations made by SoG, the
company is now pursuing catchment management change as its primary
long-term means to stabilise water colour and DOC rather than sole use of
capitally intensive "end-of-pipe" treatment technologies. The latter are
still used where risk to water quality is more immediate as part of a
`twin track' approach to achieve compliance in both the short term by
engineering solutions, in parallel with the longer term catchment
management solutions and is aligned with guidance on catchment management
solutions. Such a strategy is aligned with guidance on catchment
management solutions for water companies issued by the Drinking Water
Inspectorate (DWI) in January 2013.
Other companies are now also following their lead including South West
Water, United Utilities and Northumbrian Water. This approach is very
different from the traditional means for dealing with DOC, which is based
on capitally and operationally expensive and energy/chemical consuming and
waste producing processes at water treatment works. Indeed, continued peat
degradation often results in an operational response to exclude some
catchments as water supply sources at certain times of the year because
treatment costs are too high. Selection and timing of exclusions to
deliver the required reductions in DOC were informed by modelling at the
SoG during the 1990s. SoG's more recent research on catchment management
solutions has therefore increased water security by enabling more
catchments to act as water sources for longer periods of the year.
Catchment management intervention includes drain blocking, gully
blocking, bare peat revegetation, vegetation change through heather
removal and raised water tables (to encourage Sphagnum and
sedges), and discussions with tenants and those who hold shooting rights
to review prescribed moorland burning on both YW land and on non-company
owned land which drains to YW supply systems.
SoG research provided the scientific basis for the implementation of land
management measures to reduce water colour at the catchment scale. The
quality of the research and the case put together for the merits of
catchment management to control water colour is evidenced by the fact that
the water industry regulators (OFWAT) approved all YW's proposed catchment
management projects (which had been derived in close collaboration with
SoG) for the 2010-15 regulatory period, representing [text removed for
publication] of investment [A]. Since 2010 the investment in
catchment management meant that expensive ([text removed for publication])
MIEX advanced treatment works in five catchments were not constructed and
operated (also saving significant running costs of [text removed for
publication]). SoG's research enabled YW to adopt a corporate strategy to
produce excellent catchments, rivers and coasts. This strategy secures
future water resources and simultaneously saves many tens of millions of
pounds by avoiding or delaying expenditure (as part of the twin-track
approach in line with DWI guidance) on MIEX advanced treatment works in
some catchments [A].
These savings benefit YW by enabling efficiency which is also passed on
to the 1.8 million households and 13,000 businesses supplied by YW in
keeping water bills as low as possible while securing the highest quality
and safest drinking water possible. Moreover, YW also received an
unprecedented [text removed for publication] to spend on further research
and development over 2010-2015, more than any other water utility in the
UK, as a result of the quality and impact of R&D being delivered by
SoG along with that of three other research framework partners (Cranfield,
Sheffield and Imperial) between 2005-2010 [A]. Our colour risk
modelling [3] was also applied and used to inform catchment management
proposals for the 2015-2020 expenditure period that have been submitted by
YW to the regulator.
There are also environmental impacts of the implemented catchment
management measures that are significant in their own right, and that also
provide YW with important corporate social responsibility esteem benefits.
The investment has resulted in significant landscape-scale change to
upland environments in catchments delivering water to treatment works. The
peatland management strategies being adopted help to promote enhanced
biodiversity in the uplands, delivery of obligations under the EU Habitats
Directive, and have supported the recovery of the trophic status of Sites
of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Yorkshire Water own 11,500 ha of
SSSI land and in 2003 had just 9% in target condition (favourable or
recovering as determined by Natural England, the legal authority). By 2011
there was 99.9% in favourable or recovering condition [A].
Furthermore, peatlands are the UK's most important terrestrial carbon
store and degraded peats act as net sources of carbon to the atmosphere.
However, by pursuing the catchment solutions recommended by SoG
researchers, YW are not only reducing carbon losses from the landscape
(both from the peat to air and water and from reduced energy consumption
at water treatment plants) but they are also contributing to climate
change mitigation by helping the peat to recover to a state in which it
becomes a strong net sink for carbon from the atmosphere (our research
suggests net gains of 10,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year
through our landscape solutions compared to baseline). The whole systems
catchment management approach has now become embedded in company policy
which has been highly publicised by Kelda [B] (Kelda are the
owners of Yorkshire Water).
The research has also provided wider economic benefits in the supply
chain because peatland restoration companies, such as the SME Dinsdale
Moorland Services (DMS) are able to grow their operations to provide land
management solutions [C]. As such SoG led a NERC and TSB funded
KTP (knowledge transfer partnership) with DMS to support supply chain
innovation in best practice for catchment management solutions (which has
delivered [text removed for publication] of economic benefit to the
company to date) which are being applied on YW sites as well as other
peatland restoration and management sites across the UK (e.g. Malham Tarn
National Trust site). We have held workshops specifically for water
companies to help them understand peatland management and water quality
issues (e.g. May 2012, supported by the NERC Valuing Nature Network and a
NERC KE Fellowship held in SoG) to drive impact across the water industry.
As a result several water companies are now sharing some data and
strategies around land management to promote best practice, including
United Utilities, Northumbrian Water and South West Water where SoG leads
a funded NERC internship in collaboration with Birmingham City University.
Sources to corroborate the impact
Yorkshire Water's submission to OFWAT for the Periodic Review 2009
demonstrates SoG's research has impacted the business: http://www.yorkshirewater.com/pr09
(for example document B1 points 76-130). [Available on request]
The following contacts can support the impact narrative provided here:
A. CEO, Yorkshire Water.
This letter corroborates all aspects of the case relating directly to
Yorkshire Water, who have read the case study and corroborate the text.
[Available on request]
B. Kelda Group (2011) Taking responsibility for the water environment for
good. Available at:
http://www.keldawater.co.uk/about-us/our-vision.aspx
[Available on request].
C. Director, Dinsdale Moorland services, Company Number: 05316278.
This letter corroborates the impacts related to Dinsdale Moorland
services, as a key example of the impact on peatland restoration services.
[Available on request].