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Welsh Water has restored peatland in the North Wales Moors as part of a catchment management project to improve its water quality.
The scheme – completed in partnership with Natural Resources Wales, RSPB Cymru, Snowdonia National Park Authority, and the National Trust – has restored peatland ecosystems in the Mynydddd Hiraethog and the Migneint areas
The work, which was awarded £165,000 from the Welsh government’s resilient ecosystems fund, has reduced the amount of dissolved organic compounds (DOC) in Welsh Water’s two reservoirs in these areas, the Alwen reservoir and Llyn Conwy.
Over the previous 30 years, DOC levels in the reservoirs had more than doubled but monitoring by Welsh Water has revealed a short term reduction in DOC concentrations in the streams leading to the Alwen reservoir.
The work blocked historic drainage ditches to raise the water table around the Alwen reservoir, which should encourage the growth of mosses which help to provide healthy, functioning peatland.
Welsh Water’s source protection manager Phillippa Pearson said: “We know that managing our catchments is essential. It allows us to adapt to future changes through building sustainable, resilient ecosystems.
“Catchment management should be viewed as the first point of drinking water treatment ensuring that the water quality entering a works is of the highest possible quality and ultimately helps us work towards our company vision of earning the trust of our customers every day through providing a safe, acceptable and reliable supply of drinking water.”
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