How a New South West Water Project Targets Beastly Algal Blooms

Lakes, reservoirs and rivers across the South West are facing a growing problem that experts say is becoming harder to ignore. Harmful algal blooms, known as HABs, are appearing more often and pose risks to water supplies, wildlife and local ecosystems.

What Causes These Blooms?

HABs form when algae multiply quickly in warm, nutrient-rich water. These nutrients can come from the natural environment, the atmosphere or from slurries and fertilisers, including nitrogen and phosphorus, used on farmland. When these wash into waterways they provide ideal conditions for blooms to thrive.

Although some blooms are harmless, many can turn toxic. This can damage ecosystems, harm fish and wildlife, and make water treatment more challenging. With rising global temperatures and shifting weather patterns, HABs are an issue that water companies across the UK are increasingly having to deal with.

South West Water’s New Early-Warning Plan

South West Water has announced a major three-year project to help predict and detect these blooms earlier. The work, known as Prediction and Early Detection of Algal Blooms (PEDAL), is being led in partnership with the University of Exeter through the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW).

The project involves partners from around the world, including Western Cape DWS, Plymouth Marine Laboratory and South West Lakes Trust. CREWW will develop the UK’s first advanced digital twin system for harmful algal blooms.

This new system will bring together data from satellites, drones, in-situ sensors, laboratory testing and community observations through citizen science. Using AI and advanced modelling, it aims to forecast when and where harmful blooms are likely to appear, allowing South West Water to act sooner to protect water supplies and the environment.

The £2 million project is funded by the Ofwat Innovation Fund, which is designed to support forward-looking work across the water sector.

📷A test drone flight at Roadford Lake

What This Could Mean for the Region

According to the release, other water companies will benefit from improved predictive tools and data-driven insights, helping to cut operational costs and plan more effective interventions.

Customers are expected to see more reliable water supplies and lower long-term water costs, as algal blooms can make raw water more difficult to treat. Communities and local environments may see stronger public health protection, healthier aquatic life and more opportunities to take part in citizen science.

What the Experts Say

Andrew Pennington, Innovation Programme and Partnerships Manager at South West Water, said:
“Harmful algal blooms are a growing challenge for water companies across the UK, but particularly here in the South West where our natural environment is so central to community life.
“With PEDAL, we’re bringing together science, innovation and local knowledge to protect our region’s water for generations to come and we’re excited to work with our fantastic partners and researchers across the world to turn this vision into a real-world solution to this challenge.”

Diego Panici, Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator for PEDAL at the University of Exeter, added:
“Harmful algal blooms pose to us huge operational but also scientific challenges, which is what makes our research very exciting, because we aim to finally resolve many of them.
“Through PEDAL we will be able to understand any precursors of HABs and predict their occurrence, potentially with several weeks of notice. We will utilise cutting-edge technology, numerical models, AI, and the help of volunteers and citizen scientists to pull together the most comprehensive scientific work on this topic.”

📷An image of harmful algal blooms detected in a lake