17 Aug Colchester fishing ponds are now free floating pennywort
The fishing ponds outside Essex & Suffolk Water’s Langham treatment works, located just outside Colchester, are now free of floating pennywort, an invasive non-native species.
Floating pennywort is a fast-spreading plant that grows quickly to form thick mats which can impede water flow and amenity use. It can completely cut-out native species as it blocks out light, reduces oxygen, obstructs air-breathing insects and reduces water temperatures.
Essex & Suffolk Water has been working with a specialist contractor, Native Landscapes, for the past five years to remove floating pennywort from the Langham ponds, and it has now been completely eradicated on the site.
Floating pennywort is most commonly found in the south east of England and occasionally in the north west of England and Wales. It was first naturalised in 1990 as a result of discarded plants from garden ponds. It can grow up to 20cm a day and can quickly dominate a waterbody.
