A comparative study of heavy metal contamination and pollution in four reservoirs in the English Midlands, UK

Chemical and palaeoecological analysis of lake and fluvial sediments reveals a range of human impact on the sediment chemistry of four reservoirs in the English Midlands. Atmospheric pollution is recorded in both inner city and rural sites over the last 150 years. Catchment derived heavy metals at one urban site reveals high contamination factors for Pb, Cu, Ni, Zn and Cd. From the phosphorus record and from reconstructions based on macrofossil remains, eutrophication is recorded at all sites. Recent attempts to evaluate rehabilitation programmes for the inner city sites have proved problematical owing to two major problems. First, their shallow nature results in a high cost of desilting and, secondly, heavy metal contamination makes treatment and disposal of the sediment expensive.