RESEARCHERS from Bournemouth University are taking part in a major project to look at the health of London’s river.

They are working on an aquatic project as part of work being done by Tideway, the company delivering a 25km (15.5miles) “super sewer” in the capital.

BU Global Environment Solutions (BUG) will work with the Zoological Society of London to study the aquatic ecology in the tidal reaches of the Thames. They will provide baseline data against which improvements in water quality and the ecology can be assessed.

Over the next three years, the team will study young fish in the Thames to help understand the current ecology of the river and track any changes which follow improvements in water quality.

Dr Andrew Harrison, project manager and principal fisheries scientist at the university, said: “Tideway is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK and we are delighted to be commencing this work, using our specialist expertise to help understand the ecology of the iconic River Thames.

“The new tunnel will really benefit wildlife in the river and we hope to be able to demonstrate these benefits through this research project focussing on fish populations.”

Every year, tens of millions of tonnes of raw sewage enter the River Thames through combined sewer overflows, whose discharge points are at various locations along the tidal Thames. Historically, this would only occur once or twice a year, but in recent times it has become a regular occurrence due to the increased demand on the Victorian sewage system.

Tideway’s “super sewer”, the Thames Tideway Tunnel, will be 25km long and up to 65metres (213ft) deep and will intercept storm flows before they enter the river.

The flows will be diverted through the funnel to Abbey Mills Pumping Station near Stratford, from which they will be transferred to Beckton Sewage Treatment Works via the Lee Tunnel, before being treated and discharged at the mouth of the estuary.

Untreated sewage can stay in the river for up to three months before the tide takes it out to sea.

The monitoring programme is already under way and will continue until 2019.

“Citizen scientists” will also be involved in collecting data, which will help inform decisions about other large infrastructure projects in estuaries in the UK and worldwide.