The Times: Windermere polluters ‘must be prosecuted’ for illegal sewage spills
Windermere recently suffered the worst year since 2020 for illegal sewage spills, according to analysis of water company data by campaign groups.
A joint investigation by Save Windermere and Windrush Against Sewage Pollution used data from United Utilities to determine when the company was releasing sewage into Windermere and when it should have, by law, been treating it.
Using data obtained under environmental information regulations, the campaigners’ report disclosed that there were 140 days with illegal sewage spills last year from six sites discharging untreated sewage in and around Windermere, the highest number recorded in the past five years.
The longest illegal spill identified by the analysis was for ten days from Hawkshead pumping station, which flows into Windermere via Cunsey Beck.
The report said that 3,410 hours of untreated sewage had been discharged since 2020, equivalent to 1,392 full days in five years. There were also more than 600 days with illegal spills in and around Windermere between 2018 and last year.
United Utilities disputed the findings, claiming that they were inaccurate and some of the data “erroneous”.
Save Windermere claimed that the “lake has been systematically exploited, while the regulator has failed to act to protect its ecological integrity” and called for the prosecution of United Utilities “for repeated illegal discharges”.
