The sources of the pollution have now been eliminated, and the project – which has received funding from the EU’s LIFE+ programme – will introduce the bacterium known as Desulfitobacterium dichloroeliminans strain DCA1.

The bacterium can respire in conditions where oxygen is absent by a process known as dehalorespiration. It provides itself with energy by breaking down the chlorine-based compounds causing the pollution, mainly dichloroethane, or DCA. This is the most abundant chlorine pollutant of groundwater on the planet, but the bacterium essentially eats it up and excretes what’s left as harmless compounds.