Gledhow Beck Water Quality Report 2025
Annual summary of water quality monitoring results for Gledhow Beck, including phosphate, nitrate, pH, and biological oxygen demand measurements taken throughout 2025.
© Simon Conyers Citizen Science
Water Testing
Since September 2023, FGVW volunteers have been monitoring the water quality of Gledhow Beck — the stream that runs through the heart of the valley — as part of our citizen science programme.
5,156+
Data points recorded
14
Monitoring stations
23
Parameters measured
Sep 2023
Programme started
Why water quality matters
Gledhow Beck is an urban watercourse — it flows through a catchment of residential streets, roads, parks, and gardens before entering the ancient woodland of Gledhow Valley. Like many urban becks in Leeds, it is vulnerable to pollution from road runoff, misconnected drains, and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) — points where the sewer network can discharge into the watercourse during heavy rainfall.
Good water quality in Gledhow Beck is vital for the health of the whole woodland ecosystem. The beck supports invertebrates that form the base of the food chain for fish, birds such as the kingfisher, and amphibians. Pollution in the water affects all of these species.
How we test
Our trained volunteers carry out regular water quality testing at 14 fixed sampling points along Gledhow Beck, with a particular focus on sites downstream of Combined Sewer Overflows. We record 23 parameters at each station, including:
- Phosphate-phosphorus & nitrate-nitrogen — indicators of sewage and diffuse pollution
- Ammonia — a marker of sewage contamination
- pH, conductivity & alkalinity — overall chemical condition of the water
- Dissolved oxygen — essential for aquatic life
- Clarity, colour & turbidity — visual water quality indicators
- Water temperature & air temperature — environmental context
- Water flow & level — hydrological conditions
- Algae, odour & pollution sources — observational indicators
Results are recorded on the Water Rangers platform and reported to Leeds City Council and our partners. Significant findings are reported to the Environment Agency.
Monitoring stations
Our 14 stations include sites above and below key CSO outfalls, allowing us to identify the impact of sewer overflow events on the beck's water quality:
- Confluence of both water sources (below Harrogate Road and Allerton Grange CSOs)
- Allerton Grange CSO — above and below
- Harrogate Road CSO — below
- Allerton Park CSO — above and below
- Gledhow Lane CSO — below
- Additional stations along the length of the beck
View all our data
All readings from our monitoring programme — over 5,000 data points from 14 stations — are publicly available on the Water Rangers platform. You can browse results by station, parameter, and date going back to September 2023.
FGVW on Water Rangers →Related organisations
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Water Rangers →
The citizen science platform we use to record and publish our water quality data.
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Friends of Roundhay Park (FoRP) →
Water monitoring project for Roundhay Park's lakes and watercourses.
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REAP →
A partner organisation in local water quality monitoring and environmental accountability.
Latest Reports
All readings on Water Rangers →Get involved in water monitoring
Our water monitoring volunteers are trained by experienced practitioners. If you're interested in citizen science and learning how to assess water quality — or if you'd like to know more about what our data reveals about the health of Gledhow Beck — we'd love to hear from you.