Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose is located on the south side of Loe Pool and discharges its waste water into the Pool via a sewage sewage treatment plant on the Carminowe stream. In January 2015 RNAS Culdrose, in partnership with Kelda Water Services, completed a £2 Million investment in upgrading the sewage treatment plant.

This is an enormous step forward for “Bringing the Pool back to life“. Excessive nutrients entering the Pool have made it prone to algae blooms, starving it of oxygen and destroying its delicate ecology. Phosphate is one of the most problematic nutrients. As the graph below shows, the sewage treatment upgrade has had a profound effect on the quantity of Phosphate entering the Pool.

On the 3rd of June RNAS Culdrose invited Loe Pool Forum and other partners, who have been involved in the development of the upgrade, to visit the site for a tour. As Tim Gibb, Safety Health and Environment Advisor for RNAS Culdrose, said; “I’ve brought together all the parties involved with the project and worked closely with the Loe Pool forum to ensure that the environment comes out top,” and that “It’s through this partnership; we are working successfully to implement measures that are reducing the Blue-Green algae formations and a build up of harmful phosphate levels.”

LPF will continue to monitor the water quality but we are delighted at the initial findings; “Working together with RNAS Culdrose, we’ve seen huge progress in reducing the nutrient enrichment,” said Tim Walker, from LPF. “But we will have to continue to work closely with South West Water and RNAS Culdrose if we want to fully bring the Pool back to life.”