I come here every day. It has truly become my place of peace. I can’t go a single day in this university, in this city, actually in this country, or even on this continent, without coming to this same spot, sitting at the edge of this little dock, and watching the ducks as they play with each other. I think I can even tell them apart: there are seven black ones, two that look like aquatic pigeons, and two geese that curiously remind me a lot of the goose couples that always walked together in Wellesley.

One thing I also started to notice was some changes in the water. While I was sitting there, I could see the water level dropping, which allowed me to sit at the edge of the dock and have my feet touch the bottom. The bottom of the water was full of plants, some trash, including a playing card buried in the middle, but mostly leaves with strong veins, and the soil was very soft.

The next day, however, the water had risen again. I could no longer sit at the tip of the dock and now had to watch from afar. The water seemed clearer because I could see the bottom and even the ducks’ little feet as they swam.

Today was a very hot day, and I began to notice some changes, such as the spread of duckweed, which was really taking over the water. But one of the things I also wondered about was whether that change in water level was done on purpose.

In front of me, I can see several boats, and every time I sit, I see at least one or two that dock and continue along the canal. I remember when I was doing research on the Regent’s Canal, I learned that the water level is controlled so that the boats can pass, and I wonder how much that affects the environment here, the ecosystem and biodiversity of that canal.

But more than that, I kept investigating and discovered that London’s waters are controlled by a company called Thames Water, which is a legacy of many years of privatizations and partial government control. It’s a company that supplies most of the water but is currently going through many financial difficulties. The population depends on it.

One interesting thing is that as soon as I arrived, I discovered I could drink tap water, which is not something common in Brazil. But one thing that caught my attention was a very strange taste in the water. So I started researching what that strange taste could be. Was it my palate not being used to the European taste? Or did that water really have something different?

So I started researching and found out that most of London’s water comes from canals and rivers, like the Thames and the Lee, and also from rain. Most of it is managed by the private company Thames Water, which works in conjunction with the Greater London Authority to improve sustainable usage so as not to affect the environment.

However, London is one of the driest areas in the UK, and even so, when it rains, floods are a problem because the water can’t drain properly into these rivers.

I started reading about the sustainable development plans and discovered the London Sustainable Drainage Action Plan and the (SuDS). Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) manage surface water runoff by capturing, using, absorbing, storing, and transporting rainfall in a way that mimics nature.

On a map, I could see that this plan is in action and spread throughout London, even in the area around my university. I was surprised to discover that Victoria Park had a Green Bridge. What I thought was just decoration or a feature meant to hide the city’s urban side, something common in my city, Rio de Janeiro, I discovered was actually part of this sustainable drainage systems initiative, to manage the amount of rainwater.

It passes just a few meters from my sit spot, and that really caught my attention because I also saw small dams there to control the water level. I hadn’t noticed this before, even with so many signs and walking on that street every day on my way to class. By the time of the next post, I will have already visited Victoria Park, and I hope to explore more sustainable areas of London.