A Harrogate Advertiser reader has raised fears about possible water pollution in the town after waters were seen to turn bright green in a well known beck.

The reader took several photographs of the strange coloured water at Crimple Beck, a lengthy tributary of the River Nidd which flows through the Harrogate area and has a history of pollution problems.

The appearance of ghastly green is not a cast-iron sign of pollution and may be a reaction to prolonged periods of warm weather, rather than sewage discharges or anything sinister.

But, when natural waters turn bright green or develop a thick, paint-like scum, it can indicate the presence of algal bloom, which is almost always triggered by nutrient pollution, specifically excess nitrogen and phosphorus, flowing into the water from agricultural fertilisers or from sewage.

The reader took several photographs of the strange coloured water at Crimple Beck in Harrogate, a lengthy tributary of the River Nidd which has a reputation for pollution problems. (Picture contributed)

placeholder image — The reader took several photographs of the strange coloured water at Crimple Beck in Harrogate, a lengthy tributary of the River Nidd which has a reputation for pollution problems. (Picture contributed)

Harrogate’s long-standing water quality problems are well known to local politicians, community groups and Yorkshire Water.

Speaking earlier this year, Tom Gordon, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, complained that: "The River Nidd, Crimple Beck, and Oak Beck have all been hit by sewage outflows.

"Once cherished parts of our landscape, now reduced to symbols of failure and neglect."

One online campaign group that attempts to calculate the extent of water pollution in Harrogate’s becks is Top of the Poops.

Green mystery - A Pollution Summary for 2025 for four different sites at Crimple Beck between Oatlands and Spofforth highlighted 167 instances of pollution by sewage. (Picture contributed)

This collaborative, crowdfunded environmental campaign maps and compiles publicly available Environment Agency data to expose the volume of raw sewage being dumped into rivers, coastal beaches, and shellfish areas across the UK

Its Pollution Summary for 2025 for four different sites at Crimple Beck between Oatlands and Spofforth highlighted 167 instances of pollution by sewage - lasting 1,134 hours in total.

More information at: https://top-of-the-poops.org/waterway/yorkshire-water/crimple-beck

Registered charity Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust, is working to investigate and improve water quality at three of Harrogate’s becks – Oak Beck, Bilton Beck and Crimple Beck

More information at: https://www.ydrt.org.uk/

Earlier this year, Yorkshire Water began a £15 million upgrade to the wastewater infrastructure in Harrogate, part of a £8.3 billion improvement programme to reduce discharges from storm overflows and improve the health of local rivers and watercourses in the county.