'Toxic' bay could add pounds 1,000 to water bills; EXCLUSIVE Court battle looms as EU claims Mersey suffers from environmental damage.

Byline: BY LAURA SHARPE Daily Post Staff

THE health of water in Liverpool Bay is at the centre of a court case which could see customers facing pounds 1,000 increases in their water bills.

Testing is under way by Liverpool University scientists as the Environment Agency prepares to square up in the European Courts.

The battle is over whether harmful toxins have started a process of "nutrification" which increases bacteria and creates a low oxygen environment. If Liverpool Bay and four other areas around UK shores have levels breaching EU regulations, it could lead to a huge fine, substantial legal costs and a need to install expensive new monitoring equipment.

That has been estimated at around pounds 5bn, a cost which will ultimately be passed onto consumers if the court case is lost.

The Environment Agency believes Liverpool Bay is healthy and the court case is likely to centre on what levels of "nutrification" should be set for each area.

Scientists at Liverpool university are using a new pounds 75,000 nutrient analysis machine to record levels out in the bay, five miles from the mouth of the River Mersey.

Dr Matthew Palmer, from the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, at Liverpool University, said: "These results will feed into the British Oceanographic Data Centre which will ultimately supply the findings to the Environment Agency and Defra.

"If the UK loses the case, the expected bill could be pounds 5bn and the full cost will be passed onto customers at around pounds 1,000 per household.

"The costs will be passed on, for example if the Environment Agency is required by the court to add UV screening to water sources.

"The problem is the argument over levels of nutrification and where levels should be set, which could have major implications."

Claire Mahaffey, a lecturer in Marine Sciences at Liverpool University who is leading the study, said the study of nutrient concentrations in Liverpool Bay was a long term project.

She said: "We will look at whether nutrient levels are increasing or decreasing which we can then compare with other regions.

"The Environment Agency say there is no nutrification and the bay is healthy, but why it has sporadic periods of low oxygen is still unknown.

"This is very much a time of discovery."

Ms Mahaffey said the first aim was to determine their findings are accurate by sending their results to Japan to be assessed alongside findings from 58 other countries.

By doing this, the university will be able to assess if their results follow the same levels as their counterparts around the world.

Scientists have been monitoring Liverpool Bay for the past six years recording tides, sea level, sediment levels and pollution.

The bay was chosen because it is one of the most dynamic and challenging areas with a high tidal range, strong current and high flow of freshwater coming from the rivers Mersey, Ribble and the Dee.

One of the current projects is hoping to predict the future effects of global warming and the rate of erosion along the Sefton coastline.

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CAPTION(S):

Dr Matthew Palmer and Claire Mahaffey, at Liverpool University, with a machine that tests the quality of sea water Picture: RICHARD WILLIAMS/rw181208watertest-1; The testing equipment is lowered into the sea