The water in the Peak District is getting murkier

Scientists from Nottingham Trent University are studying the problem in the Peak District, which supplies a large part of the East Midlands with drinking water.

Water expert Helen O'Brien is spending five years looking at the peat erosion in an attempt to clean up the water that flows from the Peak District.

Ms O'Brien estimates that three million people in the UK depend on water from the Peak District.

Tons of sludge

Over the past decade, the amount of peat in the water has tripled, she says, and recent fires on the moors could make the situation even worse.

SLUDGE PROBLEM We can add chemicals to counteract (the brown water), but that costs more and we have to dispose of the sludge Gren Messham Severn Trent

"We do know that fire in peat does increase the brown water colour," she said.

She says that improved access to the moors in the Peak District has speeded up the erosion along with intensive grazing.

Severn Trent, which cleans the water for the East Midlands at its plant at Bamford, near the Ladybower Reservoir, says it has noticed a steady deterioration in the colour of the water.

The water is filtered and cleaned so tap water retains very little of the peat colour.

But Gren Messham from Severn Trent says if the problem continues to grow the plant will have to be upgraded at a cost of tens of millions of pounds.

"We are seeing darker water coming down from the Peak, and we can add chemicals to counteract that, but that costs more and we have to dispose of the sludge that results from that," he said.

"The sludge, which contains peat, is then disposed in landfill sites."