Water sight! The Thames turns green
By CLAIRE BATES, Mail online
7th August 2006
The Thames has tuend green in Limehouse (appropriately), East London.
You could be forgiven for thinking it was a swathe of grassland until you spot the canal boats.
A filter off the River Thames has turned bright green in the hot summer sun. But no, it's not a toxic leak which has turned the water emerald, but a natural forming algae.
The algae thrives in nutrient rich water in hot, calm weather. Although usually microscopic, algae can reproduce rapidly in ideal conditions creating 'blooms' which can overtake water bodies, and even choke portions of rivers of oxygen.
The affected canal is the Limehouse cut in London's East End. Ironically the area is undergoing regeneration to make it more appealing to visitors and the local community.
It is not the first time, a British river has turned a dazzling colour. In May this year six tons of the sugary children's drink Sunny Delight leaked into a tributary of the River Parrett, turning it bright yellow.
dailymail.co.uk
By CLAIRE BATES, Mail online
7th August 2006
The Thames has tuend green in Limehouse (appropriately), East London.
You could be forgiven for thinking it was a swathe of grassland until you spot the canal boats.
A filter off the River Thames has turned bright green in the hot summer sun. But no, it's not a toxic leak which has turned the water emerald, but a natural forming algae.
The algae thrives in nutrient rich water in hot, calm weather. Although usually microscopic, algae can reproduce rapidly in ideal conditions creating 'blooms' which can overtake water bodies, and even choke portions of rivers of oxygen.
The affected canal is the Limehouse cut in London's East End. Ironically the area is undergoing regeneration to make it more appealing to visitors and the local community.
It is not the first time, a British river has turned a dazzling colour. In May this year six tons of the sugary children's drink Sunny Delight leaked into a tributary of the River Parrett, turning it bright yellow.
dailymail.co.uk