Work in The Czech Republic has ceased as the guys I have been working with, have set up to sell Reedbeds on their own. I was warned this could happen, but I persisted only to discover this deceit.
The matter is in the hands of the Attorney in Praha. The charges these people are facing are said to be life changing in the extreme. Stupid thing is, now there is too much uncertainty concerning Reedbeds in the country.
Meanwhile the great host of problems of waste water treatment, in more than 4000 villages in CZ, remain unsolved. Not only have these people stolen my work, they have stolen the hopes of so many of their own people, to find solutions to some very real problems.
We believe our experiences below, have made YES Reedbeds a better and fitter Company, with many more experiences. I can only hope for a good outcome.
International Exchange to The Czech Republic Visit Winter 2006
Czech Reedbeds Working at -12C and 2 metres of Snow Visits 2005
August 04 visit to CZ June 04 Visit to UK February 04 Visit to CZ
Our Reedbed was covered by 2 metres of snow, and had endured -120C. It was only -8 when we were there in February. But this has been the worst winter in The Czech Republic, and the rest of Central Europe for 40 years. It is nearing the end of March and still the snow remains in the highlands area around Roznov.
Some photo's of the winter snow in Roznov
Brrrr can you feel the cold !!!!
I have not seen so much snow since I was a child in the Northern Countryside. The Czech People have not seen so much snow last for so long for perhaps 40 years. I wonder how we would cope having such winters year after year. Although, with climate change it is a possibility that the UK could face such winters.
We built a trial Reedbed near to Roznov, in the Czech Republic. The site is in the eastern mountain region, where winter means very low temperatures, and deep snow.
So here we are at -12 degrees centigrade, with 2 metres of snow, and the reduction is still 75%.
The point of the trial was to see how well the Reedbeds cope with winter weather. Clearly, lower temperatures mean reduced bacterial activity, which applies to all biological systems. The outflow remains clean and clear. I don't work well at -12 degrees, and as you can see from Elizabeth's photo, it really is cold.
International Exchange to The Czech Republic
Following recent visits to Roznov, the Vice Mayor Franta Sulgan and myself have agreed to set up an exchange visit of teenagers and young adults, for the summer of 2006.
YES Ltd will run the UK side of this exchange, with kind help for funding information from Mike O'Rourke ( see Rock Music Pages ). Should we get no funding then a group of 12 people will expect costs at £250 for a 7 day visit. This price is expected to decrease by £50 each, for every £500 of funding received.
Visiting a land of Bears, Lynx, Wild Boar, and Wolves, in the most beautiful mountains, is reason enough for the exchange. Of course CZ young people are fascinated by modern western culture. Ideally, we would see what we are missing in our society, and they would see what they would have to give up in order to follow our societal example.
I feel certain much will be gained by all involved in this program.
Further visits have taken place in April and July, and a group of Czech students came to Leeds to find work for the summer. We have finally built an experimental Domestic Reedbed System near to Roznov. The aim is to discover if vertical flow Reedbeds can continue to work in the cold of a Czech winter, with low temperatures and deep snow. Should the Reedbed prove successful, then our friend Jarecek hopes to further the possibilities for Reedbeds in The Czech Republic.
Jarecek is 6ft 8 inches tall. So when he came to the UK he was perfect for reaching high overhanging branches which were shading out a Reedbed Construction. The middle picture I suggested could be Jarecek welcoming people to Prague, once we have covered the whole country in Reedbeds. And the third photo is of our site in Emley Moor, where even Jarecek is not as tall as the reed plants.
There is a real opportunity to share in an international exchange with people from Roznov, and with students from Joseph Priestley College in Leeds. The Vice Mayor Mr Sulgan, is greatly interested in this. It will be great to see what social and natural environmental lifestyles we have left behind in our thrust into our modern culture. The vast richness of the region surrounding Roznov can only serve to remind us what we seem to have lost in our modern society. Equally, students from Roznov, in their more traditional culture, can see for themselves the values of our modern culture. One thing is for certain, we will all learn just how human, and therefore equal, we all are.
August Visit to Czech Republic
Since Anthony and Jana left this project, it was seen to be necessary to visit The Czech Republic once more, to ensure the contacts we have made were satisfied that everything we set out to achieve was still going to be achieved. Once again David Showalter helped with news of changes to how business cold be done in CZ.
This visit we traveled throughout the country without assistance. This was going well until we needed to get to Val Mezerice, and the bus took us to Vel Mezerice, which of course is in the entirely wrong direction. Still we managed to meet David in Roznov, a beautiful worclavian town in the mountain area close to the Polish and Slovakian borders.
We met with Jaracek, a very tall law student, who can help with communications in the CZ language. We have made an initial agreement to work together over the coming months. Our hope is to develop part of this web site in Czech. With all the internet promotional tools, we hope to begin to help solve problems of waste water treatment in CZ, where there may be 3-4000 villages without waste water treatment, and precious little money to do this work.
We also met with Petr and Jan. The presentation in February to the village mayors resulted in an offer for funding to build Reedbeds for small villages. Neither Petr or Jan knew about this and were following up this information at the time of writing. With out this funding the villages simply have no money to construct any form of waste water treatment.
So some progress has been made. Although it was more of a re-grouping events, making sure progress was still possible.
Petr Hrneio and Dr Jan Vymazal of the Czech Republic are visiting environmental projects throughout Yorkshire, and are staying in Morley from the 1st to the 4th June, 2004. Much interest has been gained through much discussion. Petr and Jan wanted to come to see for themselves exactly what has been achieved in the UK. As you can see by the photo on the right, we took our work very seriously indeed.
Accession to the European Union requires higher environmental standards, particularly with sewage treatment for the many remote villages in the Czech Republic. At the same time Czech Standards for construction can be high and very detailed.
They came to visit several sites in Yorkshire and Northumberland, where Reedbed Filtration has been used for waste-water treatment. They can return home, taking with them the hope that these natural systems, which have been developed here in Morley, can prove to be the ideal low cost, high quality solution for many villages throughout the Czech Republic.
YES & Project Vodnik Visit in February 2004
Meeting with Petr Visiting a Horizontal Reedbed
Top of the Town Hall Hodonin Hodonin Town Hall in the Snow
Impressions from The Czech republic
By Melvyn Rutter BSc Hons Environmental Scientist
As part of my work as an environmental scientist, I
arranged a series of meetings in The Czech Republic, to discuss ecological
solutions to environmental problems. During this visit I was able to build up
a number of impressions of this Central European Society. We are constantly
immersed in our own social, economic and natural environmental issues. It is
refreshing to learn how other societies deal with the very same problems we
face. This does not mean that either does anything better, simply that each
can choose different approaches, which can provide useful comparisons.
The Czech Republic and the UK share an industrial history
in iron & steel, coal, railways, textiles and industrial agriculture. The
Czech people also followed the protestant route of faith. Unfortunately, as
they are not surrounded by sea as we are, they have constantly been subject to
invasion. The past 13 years since the fall of communism, has seen a pace and
depth of change that we in England may have never faced in the past 1000
years.
Now the Czech People from Bohemia and Moravia (population
10 million) are to join the European Union by the springtime of 2004. Having
found freedom from communist oppression, they are reluctant to give away their
freedom once more.
Anthony and Jana contacted me initially as part of their work to promote UK companies in the Czech Republic. The whole concept of Ecological Solutions and especially Reedbeds seemed so appropriate that we decided to work together to form a company in The Czech Republic, and then to expand throughout the Central European Region.
Out current plan is to return in January 2004, to set up some mobile systems ready for the springtime. This visit will also be an opportunity to meet with people with whom we can forge partnership arrangements. We then expect to return at Easter time to set up the company and begin the work from that time. Anthony and Jana expect to move there in January, to work full time in promoting ecological solutions and especially reedbeds.
We have become great friends, and we have made some excellent contacts with some excellent people, all of whom see the real possibilities for this work in their country.
Hodonin Brno
Moravian Wine Cellar (Tony Lumb is in the red jacket)
King Charles Bridge, Prague. View of the River
Elizabeth enjoying the September sun in Prague
With a population of only 10 million people it is not
surprising that there is less congestion on the streets, and on the roads of
the Czech Republic.
They have developed this industrialised agricultural
economy, yet still retaining oceans of forests, and
many wild habitats.
Their urban rivers and streams are often full of fish,
something we do not see in Yorkshire to this same degree.
There are many aspects of Czech society that have allowed
me to reconsider why we do what we do. Some ideas seem quite logical and
provoke vivid contrasts with our own societal ways.
There remains in the “not so older” generation, the
ability to survive and to “make do”. They are increasingly becoming
dependant on the supermarket culture and the “Hole in the Wall”. However,
should these systems ever let them down, there is a large population able to
find food, shelter and even transport through their own efforts. I wonder how
we would cope should the supermarket shut, or the cash machine failed to work
for one day.
It would seem the majority of the population are
passionate about their environment, and are serious about looking after their
natural surroundings. There remain many environmental problems, due largely to
lack of infrastructure investment ( where have we heard this before ), which
the people are passionate about putting right.
These have been my first impression of The Czech Republic. No doubt as my visits continue I may be able to understand their culture much better.