St James Street, Dunwich

Dunwich, also known as the lost city of England, was once a large international seaport and the medieval capital of East Anglia. The Doomsday book of 1086 records the population as 3000 however large storms in 1286 and 1347 destroyed a large portion of the town. After centuries of coastal erosion all that is left of this once bustling port is a small village.

Go Contaminated Land Solutions were asked to investigate potential contamination of the site due to flooding with sewage contaminated water.

Due to a combination of a tidal surge, high winds and heavy rainfall the site had flooded, and flood waters had entered the house. The floodwater had been contaminated by sewage from the local sewage pumping station, which is only a few meters from the property.

Some soil samples were taken from the front and rear gardens. A water sample was taken from the pond. One soil sample was selected for testing for e-coli as an indicator of sewage contamination. The test results did not detect any colony forming units.