BS EN 18110:2025 - Water Quality Assessment Standard

Introducing the BS EN 18110:2025, a comprehensive standard dedicated to the assessment of damage to fish as they navigate through pumping stations and hydropower plants. This essential document is a must-have for professionals in the environmental and water management sectors, providing critical methodologies to ensure the safety and sustainability of aquatic life.

Overview

The BS EN 18110:2025 standard is a pivotal resource for understanding the impact of industrial water systems on fish populations. Released on September 16, 2025, this standard is designed to guide the assessment of potential harm to fish, utilizing advanced methods such as live fish passage survival tests and blade strike models. With a total of 84 pages, it offers a detailed exploration of techniques and practices to mitigate risks to aquatic ecosystems.

Key Features

• Standard Number: BS EN 18110:2025
• Pages: 84
• Release Date: 2025-09-16
• ISBN: 978 0 539 31508 0
• Status: Standard

Why This Standard is Important

As the demand for renewable energy sources like hydropower increases, so does the need to protect the delicate balance of our aquatic ecosystems. The BS EN 18110:2025 standard addresses this need by providing a framework for assessing and minimizing the impact of water infrastructure on fish populations. By implementing the methodologies outlined in this standard, organizations can ensure compliance with environmental regulations and contribute to the preservation of biodiversity.

Methodologies Included

The standard includes two primary methodologies:

1. Live Fish Passage Survival Test: This method involves the use of live fish to evaluate the survival rates as they pass through water systems. It provides real-world data on the potential harm caused by mechanical and hydraulic structures.
2. Blade Strike Model: This model simulates the interaction between fish and turbine blades, offering insights into the likelihood and severity of injuries. It is a crucial tool for designing safer hydropower systems.

Who Should Use This Standard?

The BS EN 18110:2025 is an invaluable resource for a wide range of professionals, including:

• Environmental Engineers
• Hydropower Plant Operators
• Water Resource Managers
• Ecologists and Conservationists
• Regulatory Bodies and Policy Makers

Benefits of Implementing the Standard

By adopting the practices outlined in the BS EN 18110:2025, organizations can achieve several benefits:

• Enhanced Environmental Compliance: Meet and exceed regulatory requirements for environmental protection.
• Improved Fish Survival Rates: Implementing these methodologies can lead to higher survival rates for fish populations, promoting biodiversity.
• Informed Decision Making: Gain access to reliable data and models that support strategic planning and operational decisions.
• Reputation and Trust: Demonstrating a commitment to environmental stewardship can enhance an organization's reputation and build trust with stakeholders.

Conclusion

The BS EN 18110:2025 standard is an essential tool for any organization involved in the management of water resources and the operation of hydropower plants. By providing robust methodologies for assessing and mitigating the impact on fish populations, this standard supports the sustainable development of water infrastructure. Ensure your operations are aligned with the latest environmental standards and contribute to the protection of our planet's precious aquatic ecosystems.

BS EN 18110:2025

This standard BS EN 18110:2025 Water quality. Assessment of damage to fish passing through pumping stations and hydropower plants. Methods based on live fish passage survival test and blade strike model is classified in these ICS categories:

• 93.160 Hydraulic construction
• 93.160 Hydraulic construction

This document is concerned with the assessment of fish survival in pumping stations and hydropower plants, defined as the fraction of fish that passes an installation without significant injury. It does not concern indirect consequences of such installations, usually included in the notions ‘fish safety’ or ‘fish-friendliness’, like avoidance of fish affecting migration, behavioural changes, injury during attempted upstream passage, temporary stunning of fish resulting in potential predation, or depleted oxygen levels. This document applies to pumps and turbines in pumping stations and hydropower plants that operate in or between bodies of surface water, in rivers, in streams or estuaries containing resident and/or migratory fish stocks. Installations include centrifugal pumps (radial type, mixed-flow type, axial type), Archimedes screws, and water turbines (Francis type, Kaplan type, Bulb type, Straflo type, etc.). The following methods to assess fish survival are described: — Survival tests involving the paired release of live fish, introduced in batches of test and control fish upstream and downstream of an installation, and the subsequent recapture in full-flow collection nets. The method is applicable to survival tests in the field and in a laboratory environment. (Clause 6); — A validated model-based computational method consisting of a blade encounter model and correlations that quantify the biological response to blade strike (Clause 7). The computational method can be used to scale results from laboratory fish survival tests to full-scale installations operating under different conditions (Clause 8). The survival tests and computational method can also be applied to open-water turbines, with the caveats mentioned in Annex C. The results of a survival test or a computed estimation can be compared with a presumed maximum sustainable mortality rate for a given fish population at the site of a pumping station or hydropower plant. However, this document does not define these maximum rates allowing to label a machine as “fish-friendly”, nor does it describe a method for determining such a maximum. This document offers an integrated method to assess fish survival in pumping stations and hydropower plants by fish survival tests and model-based calculations. It allows (non-)government environmental agencies to evaluate the impact on resident and migratory fish stocks in a uniform manner. Thus the document will help to support the preservation of fish populations and reverse the trend of declining migratory fish stocks. Pump and turbine manufacturers will benefit from the document as it sets uniform and clear criteria for fish survival assessment. Further, the physical model that underlies the computational method in the document, may serve as a tool for new product development. To academia and research institutions, this document represents the baseline of shared understanding. It will serve as an incentive for further research in an effort to fill the omissions and to improve on existing assessment methods.