River Testing Abingdon UK by Keynes Controls
The ARGES Water Quality kit was deployed at Abingdon UK in order to investigate pollution on the River Thames as it passed through the beautiful town of Abingdon in the UK.
The kit was laboratory calibrated just prior to the deployment. A 7 port multiparameter system configured to detect sewage, turbidity, nitrates, potassium and CDOM was used at the 2 sites shown in the image below.
A 3 port system used separately was configured to report pH, dissolved oxygen and conductivity.
The deployment and testing is shown in the adjacent photos.
Measurement Quality
The ARGES Fluorometers measure the background light level as well as the concentration of the chemical concentration of the samples.
Fluorometers use light to determine chemical concentrations and important that the background light level used at the time of measurement is of a satisfactory level not to interfere with the results. Simply taking a measurement with a fluorometer in the water sample does not guarantee that the reading is correct. With the ARGES Fluorometers the levels can be checked to confirm the quality and reliability of the measurements.
A real-time ARGES multiparameter system was deployed at 2 sites along the River Thames at Abingdon. Testing was carried out just before the lock and several hundred meters further along the River Thames in the direction of the water flow. The ARGEs pH sensor takes several minutes to settle after deployment to the correct level. All of the other ARGES Water Quality sensors respond immediately upon insertion into the river.
The ARGES Water Quality kit is modular and can be reconfigured in the field should that be necessary. The fluorometer optics were cleaned using the submersible brush unit prior to any measurement being taken.
Abingdon River Water Quality Update
Reported on Saturday 4th July, 2026
We recently received images of the Abingdon River near the lock, from a concerned local resident about a possible sewage leak in the area.
We take these concerns seriously. Clean, healthy waterways matter to everyone in our community, and we're grateful to the resident who brought this to our attention.
In response, our team will visit the site soon to carry out further testing. This will help us understand what, if anything, is affecting the water at this location.
We'll share our findings here as soon as the testing is complete. If you have noticed anything unusual in this stretch of the river, we'd welcome your observations too.
Thank you for helping us keep a close watch on our local environment.
