New water quality lab to monitor river

The new facility will be called the Water Rangers Community Water Lab

A new facility is set to open in Guildford as part of efforts to monitor the water quality of the River Wey.

The Water Rangers Community Water Lab will be at the new base of Zero Carbon Guildford, in the High Street.

Kat Kavanagh, the executive director at Water Rangers, said: "We've been monitoring for ecosytem health but we have a lot of people interested in recreational activities and there is no easy way for them to do an E. coli test."

The new lab will carry out tests in collaboration with the University of Surrey.

Alistair Young, from The River Wey Trust, told BBC Radio Surrey: "People care what is in the water for whatever they use it for, whether that is fishing, swimming or rowing.

"To understand the E. coli is quite an expensive process, so being able to faciliate people to do that in a cost affective way is very important."

Rowers in the 2024 Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge were told not to enter the Thames after high levels of E. coli were found.