The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are running a citizen science project along the River Ingrebourne this year. It is called the Outfall Safari and it is a systematic way to identify and quantify surface water outfalls that are suffering from pollution as a result of misconnections (where the foul water system is incorrectly plumbed into the surface water drains).
The ZSL work with the Environment Agency and Thames Water to ‘score’ the pollution and ensure that problem outfalls are logged so that the source can be traced and the problem fixed.
You can read more about the Outfall Safari initiative at the ZSL London Rivers webpage. To sign up for the project visit IngrebourneOutfallSafari2022.eventbrite.co.uk .
There will be a briefing session for volunteers on Thursday 28 April 2022 at St Laurence Church, Upminster from 1-3pm. Volunteers will then be able to survey stretches of the river, at a time convenient to them, to map and record the impact of outfalls with the help of a mobile app.
