Silent Pool was once considered one of Surrey’s most cherished freshwater springs. The project studies eutrophication (excessive nutrient enrichment) to consider the true cost of supposedly sustainable rural development and the tensions between ecological preservation and commercial intrusion.

Operating on leased land owned by the Duke of Northumberland, adjacent private companies have polluted, limited public access and accelerated eutrophic effects – fragmenting ecological and human cultures. As a result, the area has seen a dramatic rise in invasive pondweed. Protagonists of resilience and protest, these agents of ecological degradation now grow, suffocate, and dominate the landscape.