The Toxic Blue Lagoon of Buxton

tomscott.com - / tomscott - In a disused quarry at Harpur Hill, near Buxton, there's a bright blue lagoon. It looks like a perfect place to cool off in summer. And it is, if you enjoy skin irritation and fungal infections. But the strange thing is: I arrived expecting to find it black, not blue...
Why do I talk about dark and lonely water, and about fools ignoring signs? Watch this, which terrified the children of 1973: • The Spirit Of Dark And...
Thanks to Chris Dymond, who was my camera operator for this trip to Sheffield, and who also gave me a lift out to the middle of the Peak District to film the place!

[@off_mah_lawn2074]

“Guys, you wanna go to the bleach?”

[@nachiketnalamati564]

Underrated comment! I snorted hahaha

[@simonarmstrong3105]

Amazingly funny

[@theuncalledfor]

"You mean the beach?" "No."

[@locominyana8916]

Might Dye.

[@off_mah_lawn2074]

@@locominyana8916 nice lmaoo

[@dinoflame9696]

"This summer, someone is going to bleach themselves" Sounds like a movie tag line

[@LayneBenofsky]

+Ppp Lll "If you bleach yourself in no other body of water this Summer..."

[@franzfanz]

I wonder if that's what happened to Michael Jackson.

[@StudyKoreanTogether]

The Joker origin story :O

[@drops2cents260]

+Big L > Sounds like a movie tag line Yeah, but the name "Blue Lagoon" is already taken, so there won't be a campy love story-cum-soft porn flick... Oh wait...

[@alnoso]

sounds like black female white male interracial porn

[@JoshuaHillerup]

Clearly someone needs to set up a small dirty coal plant next to it to lower the PH with acid rain.

[@Optropicraft]

Joshua Hillerup You know that's almost a good idea

[@hannahnelson4569]

two wrongs do make a right! :D

[@lyricbot8513]

Joshua Hillerup or just to keep dying the water black

[@aurelia8028]

f*ck climate change! this guy has the right idea XD

[@chistinelane]

that's stupid enough to work

[@Juli414]

I see a blue pond and I want to dye it black.

[@sahibjot01]

Pspaughtamus paint it black reference righhht

[@thisismagacountry1318]

You made Mick Jagger cry

[@blueband8114]

Very good.

[@akiravrz8639]

...I'm a simple guy

[@roberttill3787]

Theres a song in there somewhere!

[@tankermottind]

I think dyeing it dark red would work even better. Nobody wants to approach water that looks like blood.

[@ImranZakhaev9]

I dunno, I think it would draw a whole new crowd

[@Crlarl]

+tankermottind What about Moses?

[@oliverxhmll]

+tankermottind too many satan worshippers would bleach themselves

[@orangepuffs6796]

+Pierre Stromae That'd be good, wouldn't it?

[@themexitan3645]

They have, they died it black again this year.

[@franzluggin398]

I love how the sign gives you the reason why it is a bad idea and doesn't just say: Stay out of there! We need more signs like these, they make doing what it says sound a lot more like the advice of a friend(ly bystander) than some arbitrary rule imposed on you. Also, it's a lot less prone to misunderstanding.

[@emmabelate7897]

I live in Buxton and it's so frustrating the amount of people that pour in and ask where it is in the summer. We refuse to tell people because of the dangers

[@shaboingboing799]

Bruver is gatekeeping bleach

[@PrincessZoey]

it does look VERY inviting! the shoreline clear and blue looks perfect to just take a quick dip on a warm sunny day

[@adamstringer7092]

The lack of plants or fish says otherwise.

[@LKNL13]

Adam Stringer well I mean the lack of fish is likely regardless but yes lack of plant life says it all

[@razorkinova8767]

It very clean but just as likely to kill you

[@Dragon.7722]

Especially the car wreckage and the floating rubbish.

[@RW7266]

The shore line is full of discarded industrial junk, the area around it is litter strewn, covered in dog and human excrement, the water is poisonous, you don't even get birds around it, there's no plant life, it is a toxic pit.

[@Sarah-wf1st]

"Only a fool would ignore this -but there's one born every minute" Ouch

[@craigashworth3493]

One burn every minute…

[@thelyricalloisfanclub6375]

I live here and everyone at my school used to go there at the weekend. Also, for anyone wondering, yes, it's the same as the Buxton water: we have a natural spring in the centre of town where the water comes from, but the blue lagoon is right on the edge of town

[@AceHawk37]

That video "Dark and Lonely Water" you linked to is absolutely terrifying

[@SapphireCrook]

***** Not as terrifying as dying, but honestly, it's supposed to be. A PSA that provides not just scare but also reason? A rarity with impact. Not to mention it has enough poetic zing to it to let it stick.

[@Adderkleet]

***** How else do you stop kids from having fun in the summer times?

[@SapphireCrook]

Adderkleet I dunno? Teling them to only swim in safe areas with adults around like a local pond, lake, beach or swimming pool?

[@Adderkleet]

Sapphire Crook That works for "sensible children". But the Spirit can't affect them anyway.

[@SapphireCrook]

Adderkleet The cool kids want to swim in tar pits and quicksand.

[@TheGuyOfWisdom]

They should sell the water from the lake as toilet cleaner. This is innovation right here...

[@elementalthepiratepilot6604]

Easy infinite domestos. Until the rock finally erodes to safe levels at least

[@yoyomofo4442]

Sold as buxton bottled water

[@AndyRoidEU]

Natural and without additives. No lies there.

[@BigBadLoneWolf]

trump could use it for a vaccine

[@GeorgeSPAMTindle]

I have worked at several quarries around the area. Before starting work at any quarry they give us all a safety briefing, at which they show us all rather gory photographs of alkali burns. If you like your body to remain intact just stay out of the water.

[@danjcollier]

"Dark and Lonely Water" "Only a fool would swim in there, but there's one born every minute." I see what you did there, Tom.

[@NoahTopper]

If we mixed it with that pink lake in Australia, we could create the Lavender Lagoon.

[@stacuu2222]

In Poland, we have a similar place, called "Polish Maldives". The difference is that it is much bigger and surrounded by a sandy beach and a forest. It truly looks like paradise, however even sand is toxic and if you get any under your clothes then you can get burned just from it.

[@DjResR]

Why not sell that water as natural bleach?

[@spoonages]

XD

[@aperson4075]

Wow.

[@sorou]

+DjResR now you're thinking with capitalism!

[@DjResR]

Razgriz Knight It's not bad if it's used for good purpose. The capitalism has bad name because those people who misuse it to cause harm to other for their own ridiculously high wealth. (One example of good capitalism is in Metro 2033 video game) Calling it sin is as retarded as calling breathing sin. Good day, sir.

[@swat37]

Metro Last Light was GREAT!

[@tvdavies]

Nice to see you in my home town, Tom. Hope you managed to do more than visit one of our old quarries! Oh, and just to put anyone wondering at ease, the mineral water that the town is best known for does not come from this body of water!

[@PlaystationLounge]

Love the Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water quote. Stealthily done...

[@jonnybuijze1770]

"But now, it's 2015" How... How many of these have I been watching?

[@LEGENDARY_KING]

Hello my fellow binge watched, I've definately not reached 2013 videos

[@robertfinch4937]

Yeah, I live near there, it is problematic, not for locals, we know of it. It is generally summertime tourists that swim and have problems on one of the rare hot and sunny days. Good video, telling the danger!

[@jamesbohan6874]

Question: This is alkaline due to calcite. Could you pump CO2 into it with a bubbler to act as a carbon sink and balance out the PH over time?

[@Sgrunterundt]

And getting rid of the CO2 at the same time

[@lukeadkins8794]

It would put chlorine gas into the air next to a town with 25,000 people living in it

[@Sgrunterundt]

@@lukeadkins8794 Where would the chlorine gas come from?

[@ParadigmUnkn0wn]

@@lukeadkins8794 CO2 would produce carbonic acid, so no chlorine atoms to be found. Even if you used hydrochloric acid, the chlorine atom would bind to the calcium resulting in calcium chloride.

[@Riotlight]

Why did they stop adding the black dye?

[@9000fail]

Riotlight Budget cuts

[@hornylink]

Nathan Brindley so because people are idiots

[@ThisNameIsG]

+ThatSaneGuy is currently prevented by human society, and we should continue to prevent it

[@99999george]

+Riotlight Probably because its ridiculously expensive to provide a dye constantly for water of such a large quantity.

[@barnzYT]

I'm from buxton and the council is wank that's why

[@elliott2602]

I live right near there, after visiting frequently this finally explain why I don't have skin anymore

[@Vakito227]

Is this where they get that Buxton Spa water from? XD

[@ewangregorystvradiocapture9963]

+Pope-Eye Ha Ha NO!

[@AbandonedVoid]

+Ewan Gregory I'm not sure why, but your comment made me laugh

[@megamegacoolman]

Because it's funny? (+Ewan Gregory was making a popeye reference)

[@mrlardster]

Erm no

[@noahlaws531]

Oof I just commented that. I didn't copy you btw

[@mebezaccraft]

Dye it yellow. Nobody would jump into a pool of a yellow liquid.

[@Ink_25]

Oh, you never know... (Not saying I would, but there are people out there, who would)

[@IamTheShermanator]

search on KZbin "wrigley field trough dive"

[@jeremycaldecoat1699]

Pond full of custard

[@josh0018]

I would

[@Chukilled]

Tom I love your videos! Just found your channel approx. 2 weeks ago and have been loving your whole digital archive. Keep making incredible videos and bringing knowledge to the people.

[@Cplblue]

Is there a zip line that you can ride over? I recently saw a video of a zip line in England where you can travel up to 110 MPH and it takes you over a blue lagoon that looks like this. A comment about it mentioned it being heavily alkaline.

[@jeremystanger1711]

Cplblue There is one on the Wales-England border near where I live. It's called the National Diving Centre. www.ndac.co.uk/thewire.htm It is an old limestone quarry so I don't know how they keep the water neutral.

[@Thatannoyingvoicetoldyoutodoit]

No zip line over Buxton sorry

[@phil955i]

110 mph 🤣

[@alexandermccabe556]

1:20 "and that person is me" *tom does a sweet gainer into the lagoon*

[@Chushchev]

Isn't Buxton a brand of bottled water? Lol.

[@SuperDrummerful]

Chushchev Yeah it is, but the company is from Buxton, Derbyshire.

[@Juli414]

Seb Boyse And this lagoon is in or near Buxton, Derbyshire.

[@Dth091]

Chushchev Yeah, but the bottled water comes from a spring in the town, not from a disused quarry filled with stagnant water a few miles away :P

[@rostislavsvoboda7013]

Falcqn how can you be so sure about that? :)

[@Chushchev]

Falcqn 'Buxton, for that extra zingy taste.'

[@PureNeptune]

They tell us every year don't swim in the quarries. But there's always stories on the news of people drowning or dying of hypothermia, or cutting themselves on something and getting infected.

[@heyhococo]

“Only a fool would ignore this, but there’s one born every minute” I believe I get that reference, the Public Information Film “Lonely Water”, scary

[@mattscudder1975]

After seeing a recent rant by Nigel Farage commenting about the blue lagoon being dyed black because of the corona virus I’d not be to surprised to see this clip getting a whole bunch of shares and likes.

[@iainduncan722]

This summer, someone’s going to bleach themselves...

[@JoeSchmoer]

just want to note how perfect your format is. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, I'll always click on your vids and check them out while browsing my subs, even when I'm not in the mood to watch similar vids like from scishow, minutephysics, asapscience, etc.I think you're different in that your vids are as short as possible, without unnecessary graphics and are always about really interesting things from a wide range of subjects. And more often than not, they are truly about things which I've never heard of before, unlike other educational-shorts youtube channels.

[@Samkaildyke]

Love the casual Dark and Lonely water references!!

[@cmdfarsight]

I like the references to the dark and lonely water public info advert from the 80s

[@4071816]

Coming back after Dan Olson's gold video

[@Gregory_12]

Same.

[@LiarraSniffles_X3]

We have a similar lagoon in new zealand, except that I was caused by water blasting and some mineral, so the water was perfectly safe but incredibly pink (I believe). It's gone back to looking pretty normal now though :c

[@therealmjoc]

*sees the word Buxton in title* *looks at bottled water on desk* *passes out*

[@grrrimgrumpy12345]

watching your videos is one of the best bits of my days.

[@buggs9950]

"..I guarantee you, this summer someone is going to bleach themselves" Michael Jackson could've saved a fortune...

[@ryanbrown2517]

So you're telling me this where I get my water from?!?! *sip* 😵

[@bankid5567]

No you're stupid

[@novaryx]

NoName it's called a joke, moron.

[@MrSirlulzalot]

Tom's videos are the only ones on YT that- every single one makes me wish it was longer.

[@jhonbus]

Next TYMNN has to be abouy something involving electrical substations and frisbees, just so you can use another one of the awesome PSAs...

[@625tvroom]

The Sunday Mercury is reporting today (29-Mar-2020) that Derbyshire Police has dyed the water again after reports that people were congregating there.

[@Fennoman12]

Reminds me of the lakes at Plitvice in Kroatia, though I don't think the turquoise-blue color in that water has anything to do with limestone as it does in Buxton.

[@davidholden2658]

Fennoman Well the rock in the valley the Plitvice lakes are in is all Limestone and the colour of the water is due to the minerals dissolved in it so it's exactly the same reason.

[@matejamihaljevickristo8360]

David Holden i somehow doubt that plitvice lakes would be on the unesco world heritage list if that was the case.

[@renardmigrant]

+Mateja Mihaljevic why's that then?

[@PinkBunnyCorporation]

+David Holden There are fish at plitvice, it is livable and harmless.

[@LordXarti]

REMOVE ME OUT OF YOUR CIRCLES NOW!!!

[@skf957]

"....someone's going to bleach themselves..." Priceless!

[@EarlofDestruction]

Near to my town is a pond with sulfuric acid waste but they recently put a fence around it and started to pump it away.

[@DiamondCalibre]

"This summer, someone is going to bleach themselves" Oh boy will I!

[@chotatopips4177]

You there bro?

[@AceHawk37]

Couldn't they add something to the water to counter balance the ph levels?

[@Pieterjanvdhd]

***** the lake would just eat away more limestone

[@AceHawk37]

Pieterjanvdhd Thus making the water alkaline once again? And I'm guessing continuously rebalancing this would be too expensive?

[@danieljoses]

***** as its a limestone quarry if you balanced it out it would most likely become alkaline again over time

[@dapa4]

Pieterjanvdhd If they built up a layer of sediment before balancing the ph levels it should prevent that.

[@LivingChords]

ᅚ ᅚ NaCl isn't the only salt, but the equation is faulty.

[@jannepeltonen7493]

That would be a handy pool to have around, no more worries trying to find chemicals when I want to develop a PCB

[@andyskelton7223]

Yes Tom you are right it does look almost tropical and very inviting I remember one just like that growing up in Buckinghamshire

[@rippspeck]

7 billion people. I think we can handle a few idiots sorting themselves out. But sadly, this base will hardly do serious damage yet still cost the public when those fools go to the emergency room.

[@Manc-king]

rippspeck I was there a few years ago none of us went in but the hour I was there, there was between 40 - 50 people swimming in it. It must be freezing and god knows how many cars are down there

[@GeFlixes]

pH 12.6 is similar to pH 11.3? No, pH 12 equals 10 times the concentration of hydroxide than pH 11. the pH scala is logarithmic.

[@rory4987]

I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this, I guess the council correctly assume people will neither understand how logarithmic scales work nor know that pH is logarithmic

[@joeyhardin5903]

@@rory4987 theyre bullshitting for a good cause

[@kellenliame2674]

i never clicked on the annotations mid video before. well done. nice job hitting the same lines too

[@milliegoodwin5389]

I lived in Buxton for about 12 years and I remember even in school people would 'joke' about going for a dip, because it's technically Buxton water, and 'the town's already radioactive anyway' .

[@landonkryger]

So why did they stop dying it if it was such an effective warning technique?

[@Deguiko]

Landon Kryger It's probably expensive

[@Axelschultz1]

Landon Kryger Probably because people thought it looked ugly (which was kind of the point)

[@TheBloodsuger150]

Landon Kryger god, why have these people just guessed?

[@Thatannoyingvoicetoldyoutodoit]

Like everything, cost, and councils have had their budget cuts

[@PhilJonesIII]

Its cheaper when the health service is paying.

[@Generik97]

So why isn't it dye black again?

[@denelson83]

Generik Not in the budget.

[@johnvonshepard9373]

Obama cut the funding just like what he did to NASA.

[@wyattroncin941]

John von Shepard nah, trump needs the money for golf.

[@wrangle123]

John von Shepard how does budget cuts in the USA affect local councils in the uk?

[@Optropicraft]

Arthek (joke)

[@cmdfarsight]

I like the references to the dark and lonely water advert.

[@alextemplemusic]

Love the references to "The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water."

[@wyvernlord23]

As a person from the Caribbean. That just looks like normal water to me.

[@hikari_no_yume]

wyvernlord23 As it does to anyone. Although it looks out-of-place in England.

[@Meep3692]

Any particular reason why you have KZbin set to French?

[@lostingames5657]

+Kanada Ichigodesu If I recall correctly, he's been working on learning french.

[@themanwiththepan]

The spirit of dark and lonely water was my favourite PiF

[@juicestyx]

I'm localish to this in Macclesfield, it's not only it's pH that is so dangerous, it's also the animal carcasses, and abandoned cars that are in there also leaching harmful things into the water

[@mellamobob]

maybe stretch like a barbed wire net over the whole thing?

[@Goonernolan]

wow these places are fascinating. In your opinion what's the strangest place you've ever visited Tom?

[@louis263]

I live next to Buxton and I didn’t even know this existed

[@fenrisgaming8982]

We had a blue lagoon like this not far from where I lived growing up.... most of us were smart enough to know that the water was unnaturally blue and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to take a dunk...... I always wondered if there were fish living in it, and what they must have looked like.............. fast forward to now, parks and recreation managed to get a hold on the area, cleaned it all up, the water is no longer blue, and it's now a popular fishing spot.

[@tatianatub]

is there not a use for such alkaline water?

[@smokingsamosa]

Boil out the water, concentrate it

[@tatianatub]

Sam Mason ppl would actually pay for that because it says "natural" on the pack

[@ArgoIo]

***** It is probably cheaper to use regular dry lime stone in comparison to the transport costs for all the water.

[@pasquarielloanthony]

@0:34 story of my life: car wrecks, dead animals, excrement, rubbish.

[@jordanp5469]

I like how Tom has more than one video about toxic pits caused by mining

[@tarantulaguy1998]

“Dark and lonely water.” Is that a PIF reference? If so, Donald Pleasance would be proud.

[@Benwesty9023]

You know you're a weaboo when you think of the anime, Black Lagoon when he said that.

[@veselina69]

o7

[@mundotaku_org]

People are dumb. There is a similar lake in Doral, Fl (a suburb of Miami) but we got real blue beaches, so people dont do the dumb thing.

[@blakesteenrod4765]

I love your channel and I’m definitely watching your videos from now on

[@ArvidHagelberg]

I live on the west coast of Sweden, in Gothenburg. The bedrock in the area is mostly granite, which is acidic. Most of the lakes in the area have been hit pretty hard by acidification. So, you know, if you wanted to you could give us your water and we could give you ours. Sound good?

[@felecityrex6376]

dye it hot pink

[@johnielus8682]

Dye it light-blue.

[@bensrandomshows1482]

dye it yellow

[@AlexOnTheBus]

But then it would attract the TOWIE or Geordie Shore mob. (Come to think of it...)

[@davidyoung2990]

And now it’s gone back to black. As the saying goes...

[@hsvr]

That water looks lovely

[@kiwichenier]

There's actually an old quarry in my hometown just like this, it's very blue and inviting, frequented by teenagers and local idiots, a kid died in there a couple years ago, hasn't stopped anyone from swimming.

[@mariohendriks1]

That alkaline most certainly does not come from limestone. That would mean that every karst (limestone) landscape in the world would have alkaline rivers and lakes, but all those places are full of canyons and caves created by slightly acidic waters.

[@AxcelleratorT]

Agreed. There is something else going on here. Calcite (calcium carbonate) does react with water to raise the pH. However, at the pressures and temperatures involved here, the pH rise from calcium carbonate alone won't get much past 8.8, certainly nowhere near 11! Tom Scott missed some of the chemistry.

[@valhar2000]

The fact that it was 2015 made it alright to swim in those waters. 2015 is the only reason you need to do anything; just ask Justin Trudeau.

[@Coffee12341]

I like all the washed up bottles on the side of the lagoon!

[@007bistromath]

"I guarantee you, this summer, someone is going to bleach themselves." Tom, no. Didn't you learn your lesson with the pineapples?

[@YungDesignatedDriver]

I'm here from iFunny

[@RubenRodriguez-iy3rk]

Justin Everett i funny top comment

[@smoothiewrld9276]

Who is here from the iFunny comment?

[@RubenRodriguez-iy3rk]

Will Miller me dude it was a top comment

[@nathan0401_]

This video was really interesting. Thank you :)

[@davidswain5687]

Used to live on Harper Hill road, right near the old “blue Lagoon”! Been swimming there numerous times as a kid in the 70s and 80s!!!!? I wouldn’t do it now but at the time no one (Young) new it was dangerous. Funny though, I never got ill and I only ever bathed/showered once a week and never was burnt over time. Must have got worse now but it was always light blue like a shallow warm tropical sea. That’s why it was always so inviting!,

[@sdaten3231]

Who came from ifunny

[@RubenRodriguez-iy3rk]

!nFiniTy me

[@Optropicraft]

!nFiniTy iFunny is a tumor

[@jimbob8342]

gotta love living here

[@ParisHayes]

I went there today and had no luck. Just wanted to take pictures and see the beauty but there was security there. Quite upset I couldn't get in

[@ParisHayes]

I'm going there today!

[@Weasels42]

Living in Butte, Montana, we too have a body of water that would be unpleasant to enter- of course, the Berkeley Pit looks rather less inviting. If you've not heard of it, check it out.

[@Weasels42]

Weasels42 For those too lazy to look it up, the Berkeley Pit is the result of copper mining, and happens to be extremely acidic and filled with lovely heavy metals and chemicals ranging from arsenic to sulfuric acid. There are no murders in Butte, only swimming accidents.

[@kjn6505]

We use to swim in our local limestone quarry and it was ironicly called the blue lagoon, but its now a scuba diving place, but im guessing the ph wasnt as bad. We also use to swim in oyr local canal and god knows whats in there!

[@goombacraft]

I live in an old chemical town, ICI and TATA operated here for a while, and still do in places. The entirety of the town north from the town centre is flashes full of lime waste from the factories, and you wouldn't know if not for the hundreds of signs warning you of toxic water and subsidising ground. Northwich, Cheshire if you want to look it up

[@AlexRutiaga]

We have one of this in Durango but it used to be a community's source of fresh water and was caused by negligence of local authorities and canadian mining company

[@elYisusdelaNazza]

"Only a fool would ignore this, but (dramatic pause) there's one born every minute" I LOVE the british sarcashumor

[@siprus]

It does look very inviting.

[@SapphireCrook]

You know, the plus side of having people swim in and drink the water is that you'll have some sparkly bleached skeletons to warn the next batch. Mmm... not so spooky now, are ya?

[@ruinenlust_]

I am so happy I found your channel! (through Numberphile) So much interesting things to watch!