South West Water looks to Rezatec to provide satellite-derived data analytics to understand location, structure and function of peatland on Bodmin Moor 

Harwell, Oxfordshire, 9th February 2016 – For South West Water and the Mires Partnership on Exmoor understanding the underlying peatland structure and integrity is crucial for restoration planning. Rezatec has been using cutting edge Earth Observation techniques to assist South West Water on a project to map and understand the condition of its peatlands. South West Water is working with partners in its Upstream Thinking Programme to improve drinking water quality and reduce treatment costs through improved catchment management around Bodmin Moor and Exmoor.

The identification and subsequent blocking of drainage ditches allows the moor to hold more water and to release it more slowly, thereby reducing flood risk and improving water quality. Post restoration monitoring studies on Exmoor have shown that restoring peat bogs that had previously been drained resulted in a third less water leaving the moorland during rainstorms than had done so three years before.