One of the joys of Wymondham is the River Tiffey, running from its source through the Oxford and the Lizard, behind the industrial sites and on through Tolls Meadow where it joins the Bayes, and under London Road into town.

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It gives us all pleasure as it offers paddling and wading in Becketswell Park, and the delight of walking alongside it down to Chapel Lane Bridge.  Then it skirts the allotments before heading through Kimberley to Carleton Forehoe and out towards Wramplingham and beyond where it joins the Yare.

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Greening Wymondham knows what a valuable resource it is – and have been testing it since autumn 2023.  Every fortnight we sample it from the Lizard to below Anglian Water’s sewage treatment works.  We’re looking mainly at nitrates, phosphates and the amount of dissolved oxygen, which gives an indication of river health.

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At the moment those results are passed informally to the Environment Agency but we are hoping to link up and publish them regularly alongside other river groups in our catchment area.

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In  September 2024 we began testing for E.coli, which has produced some unhappy pictures of a river which is occasionally contaminated with sewage.

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There are two pumping stations – on Station and London Road – upstream of the main public access to the Tiffey, as well as the sewage works downstream.   We hope to run tests more frequently in the summer months.  We’re discussing with the town council how best to flag any levels where the public should be advised.

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We are also liaising with University of East Anglia (UEA) on further testing of our E.coli samples to check for pathogens; we hope also to find a way to trace the contaminator by species – and thereby the source.

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We welcome anyone who would like to help us collect and test samples – just email us at greeningwymondham@gmail.com.   It’s a lovely way to get to know the river and perhaps, like us, you might spot the odd otter or kingfisher!