Last week we highlighted that work had started to refurbish the reed beds at the old colliery atKames near Muirkirk. Today we revsited the sire to see how the works were progressing. The first reed bed has been cleared and most of the old silt, reeds and other solids have been removed. The second bed that will be cleared in the next week is indicated by the red arrow in the image below. Both beds with then be recomposted with mushroom farm compost and then planted agin with suitable reeds. The flow to this bed won’t be reconnected for a few months until the plants begin to establish.
Depending on how quickly thee first two beds recover, the other two reed beds will also be cleared in a year or two, thereby completing the restoration of this facility which will operate for another few years with minimal maintenance bar the odd cutting of reeds.
The discharge flows to the Garpel Water near the blue arrow.
Work progressing at Kames
Over the last 2 years or so, Ayrshire Rivers Trust raised concerns with SEPA over the effectiveness of the reed bed after we noticed the discharge wasn’t particularly clean and was high conductivity. Iron deposits were noticeable in the Garpel Water. We are pleased to see this work going ahead and expect much improved water quality at the discharge this year.
