Keele Water

Services available

Keele Water is an environmental consultancy agency based in the School of Life Sciences, Keele University. We offer a service with three fundamental objectives:

1. The application of crisis management after a major fish kill and/or pollution incident.
2. The application of regular monitoring programmes leading to the development of management policies which increase the chances of preventing a major environmental incident.  This latter procedure can be highly cost effective.
3. The assessment of environmental impact of land development.

The major services offered comprise:

• advice on fisheries management e.g. stocking densities, environment improvement.
• fish disease diagnosis and advice on appropriate control measures.
• water quality assessment using living organisms and chemical analysis.
• identification of macroinvertebrates and higher plants.
• interpretation of environmental data.
• assessment of the environmental impact of land development

Consultants in Environmental Biology

• Professor D Hoole, BSc., PhD.
• Dr A Polwart, BSc., PhD. 
• Dr P Thomas, BSc., MSc., PhD.

The senior consultants, Prof David Hoole, Drs Tony Polwart and Peter Thomas have together more than 100 years experience in fisheries, freshwater and terrestrial environmental management.  They are supported by a skilled technical and administrative staff and the full resources of Keele University.

Fish health check certification

In 1994 the expertise available in the consultancy allowed it to obtain verification from the Environmental Agency to carry out disease surveys on fish populations under Section 30 of the Fish Health Act 1983.  This, together with the recently introduced "Buyer Beware Policy", has meant an increase in demand on the consultancy's fisheries service.

Techniques available

• light microscopy and histological preparation for species identification and disease diagnosis
• immunological and bacteriological techniques for disease diagnosis
• titrimetric methods and flame photometry for quantitative and qualitative determination of chemical components in a water body
• atomic absorption spectrophotometry for the determination of trace elements and heavy metal pollutants
• macroinvertebrate sampling for the assessment of acidification, eutrophication and pollution

Possible clients

• Companies considering land improvement or development
• Industrial companies who are consuming or discharging into water bodies
• National and local government authorities concerned with the utilisation of water resources
• Water companies, National Rivers Authority and British Waterways
• Public health authorities
• Angling clubs and fish farmers
• Conservation and wildlife trusts

Contact and price information

We offer an initial free consultation and quotation, apart from expenses either on site or at our laboratories.
For further information please contact:

Professor D Hoole 
Keele Water
School of Life Sciences
Huxley Building
Keele University
Keele
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG
United Kingdom

Telephone:  (01782) 733673
Secretary :  (01782) 733028
Fax         :  (01782) 733516
Email        : d.hoole@keele.ac.uk