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Local community of Little Colonsay

The local community of Little Colonsay has an interest in protecting the environment and ecology of the sea surrounding Little Colonsay. MTS-CFD were commissioned to model the environmental impact of a proposed new fish farm located to the south west of the island

There was concern that the ecology of sea surrounding Litle Colonsay was under imminent threat as a result of the planned expansion of salmon farming operations in the region. To support the opposition to the planning application MTS-CFD was commissioned to model the chemical and biological impact of the new farm.

Model

MTS-CFD used the hydrodynamic modeling software  TELEMAC and the pollutant modeling software CLAWS.  In the hydrodynamic model the effects of tides, winds, Earth spin (Coriolis force) and sea-bed friction were considered in a three-dimensional, non-hydrostatic system. For the dispersion of AZA, waste and lice the software package CLAWS was used

Computational mesh 

Results

MTS-CFD was able to provide the concerned community surrounding Little Colonsay with information about the possible concentration of the pesticide  Azamethiphos which could then be compared with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) Environmental Quality Standard (EQS). Also, information about how the salmon waste was distributed into the surrounding water was supplied

The report MTS-CFD prepared using the LIttle Colonsay simulations may be found on our publications page

Mission

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