MWH leads water works

Environmental engineering company and water specialist

is leading a major £900,000 project on behalf of

to investigate the water quality of the Manchester Ship Canal.

Warrington-headquartered MWH and three partner organisations are looking at a range possible factors influencing water quality. These include run-off from farmers' fields, the quality of water coming into the canal from the various rivers that discharge into it, and the quality of water coming into the canal from water treatment plants.

Steve Kenney, MWH's project and technical manager. said: ‘The waterway does not currently meet the standards laid down under the European Union's Freshwater Fish Directive relating to dissolved oxygen and ammonia levels, so we are working with partners APEM, RPA and Stirling University to examine the water quality of the canal relating to the fish and invertebrates that live along it.’

The MWH team has designed a comprehensive computer model of the waterway itself and the seven rivers, including the Mersey and the Irwell, that run into it. The model also incorporates the water and waste water run offs that discharge into the canal, to examine the overall impact on the ecology of the waterway.