PLAN TO SAVE WINDERMERE
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PLAN TO SAVE WINDERMERE · ADD YOUR NAME ·
143,000,000 LITRE ILLEGAL SPILL
As reported by the BBC, in just 3 years, United Utilities has illegally dumped over 140 million litres of untreated sewage into Windermere from Glebe Road Pumping Station.
Now, we must demand change. Email Keir Starmer and ask him to bring in a law to end sewage pollution in Windermere once and for all.
GREATER PROTECTION FOR WINDERMERE
We are asking the new government to commit to providing Windermere with greater protection, to ensure its long-term ecological health.
Greater Protection is the first of the long-term goals in our plan for a sewage free lake.
Supported by…
The call for greater protection of Windermere has been supported by individuals such as Chris Packham and Paul Whitehouse, as well as the below organisations and charities who recognise the importance of Windermere as one of our nation’s greatest natural assets.
TAKE ACTION
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OUR PLAN TO SAVE WINDERMERE
Add your name to our 10-point plan for a sewage-free Windermere.
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DEMAND GREATER PROTECTION
Sign our open letter demanding greater protection for Windermere.
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SIGN THE PETITION
Sign our petition calling for a public inqury into the Environment Agency.
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DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
Make a donation to help us continue the fight to protect our precious lake.
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Lake Windermere is dying
Excessively high nutrient levels are destroying England’s largest lake. We are on a mission to return the lake to its natural state.
We demand an end to all treated and untreated sewage discharges into the Windermere catchment.
The choice is simple. If you disagree with sewage being discharged into Windermere, please read on.
Latest Campaign Updates
What's happening in Windermere?
High phosphorous levels
The single largest input of phosphorous into Windermere is sewage discharges from United Utilities Wastewater Treatment Works.
Toxic algal blooms
High levels of phosphorus in the lake are leading to a rapid increase in potentially toxic algal blooms.
Suffocating our wildlife
Algal blooms suffocate our lake and are a danger to us, our pets and our wildlife.
What Can Be Done?
Windermere
Annecy
Image By SwimQuest Holidays
We are asking United Utilities to end ALL treated and untreated sewage discharges into the Windermere catchment. This is possible.
United Utilities has previously modelled complete removal of one of their assets discharging into Windermere at an estimated cost of £25 million, which in the context of their turnover and profits is a minimal investment.
Since the 1960s, Lake Annecy in France has been transformed. This has been achieved by channeling all sewage to treatment plants outside of the lake's catchment. It is now the cleanest lake in Europe.
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The Numbers
1,157
full days of sewage discharged from storm overflows into the Windermere catchment since 2020
9 months
for a single drop of water to travel through Windermere - this is why Windermere is unique
99%
reduction in the number of sea trout caught by line on the River Leven since 1980
£750m
tourist industry at risk of collapse if Windermere dies
Sewage discharges in the Windermere catchment
Click on the map icons to find out what United Utilities is discharging into the catchment.
See What Sewage Is Doing To Our Lake
No United Utilities Inputs
Image taken above Chapel Stile, Great Langdale Beck, where there are no wastewater treatment work discharges
Below United Utilities Inputs
Image taken roughly 100m downstream of Ambleside wastewater treatment work on the River Rothay
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The striking feature of your case is essentially a breach of a rule of law, that your business model is based on breaching statutory duties.
That is an inevitable part of the way you carry out your business, you tell us. Not only is the court meant to tolerate this, but those who suffer loss as a result of unauthorised behaviour contrary, we are hypothesising, to a statutory duty are meant to grin and bear it.
Lord Reed, Supreme Court Justice, 2023
Court comment aimed at United Utilities’ legal counsel
Our Mission
To return Windermere to its ecologically natural state, through the complete removal of ALL treated & untreated sewage discharges into the Windermere catchment.
We are collaborating with the local community, businesses, environmental organisations and politicians to Save Windermere from ecological destruction, ensuring future generations are able to swim free from fear and allowing wildlife to thrive in a healthy ecosystem.
If you would like to provide support, join our team, make a large donation or if you have a press enquiry, please get in touch directly.