Labour’s environment secretary Steve Reed has set out the government’s ambition to make England’s biggest lake free from sewage pollution. It’s a notable milestone but the fight goes on, writes Save Windermere’s Matt Staniek.

Ministers have promised that “only rainwater” will enter Windermere, but have failed to give a legally binding deadline on when sewage spills will stop.

Steve Reed, the environment secretary, made the pledge as he visited the Lake District on Monday, where he said he was “absolutely committed” to cleaning up Windermere’s two basins. Last year raw sewage was discharged in the lake over more than 6,000 hours.

For years celebrities and campaigners have rallied to demand the Lake District's iconic Windermere is cleaned up from pollution - finally the Government agrees.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed has vowed to "clean up Windermere" by ensuring "only rainwater" and not sewage pollution enters England’s largest lake.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed is vowing to restore Windermere to its "natural beauty" with an ambitious scheme. The government is vowing to clean up Windermere and stop it being "choked" by sewage pollution.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed wants to ensure "only rainwater" enters England's largest lake.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed is to pledge to ensure "only rainwater" enters England's largest lake. On a visit to Windermere in Cumbria he said the government was "committed to cleaning up this iconic lake" as part of its Plan for Change scheme, which aims to upgrade crumbling water infrastructure using private investment.

The government will pledge to “clean up Windermere” and ensure “only rainwater” enters the polluted English beauty spot.

Environment secretary Steve Reed and water minister Emma Hardy will be in Windermere on Monday as part of a Things Can Only Get Cleaner tour.

The government has said it will “clean up Windermere” after criticism over the volume of sewage being pumped into England’s largest lake. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, pledged “only rainwater” would enter the famous body of water in the Lake District, putting an end to the situation where it Windermere was being “choked by unacceptable levels of sewage pollution”.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed will today (Monday 10 March) set out government ambition to end sewage discharged into Windermere. This comes ahead of a thorough feasibility study – established by the ‘Only Rainwater’ local coalition including United Utilities, the Environment Agency, Ofwat, Save Windermere, Love Windermere, the Lake District National Park authority, and Westmorland and Furness Council. The study will determine what would be needed to eliminate sewage discharges into the lake, drawing on successful examples and innovation from around the world to create a roadmap for delivery. 

Raw sewage was released into Windermere for most of last year, data obtained under freedom of information laws has revealed. The water company United Utilities, which serves the Lake District and the northwest, released untreated sewage into England’s largest lake for more than 6,000 hours last year, equivalent to an average of 17 hours a day.

The chief executive of United Utilities has told MPs increased pollution levels are down to better monitoring and increased wet weather but admitted the company needed to do more to prevent discharges in the future.

Environmental campaigners in the Lake District have launched their 'most ambitious' project to date to make Windermere sewage free. 'Save Windermere' announced the new scheme last week, providing a step-by-step guide for local residents and businesses to move away from privately owned sewage treatment.

Connecting to the main sewage network could help cut down pollution into England's largest lake, campaigners say. The Save Windermere campaign said those with private waste systems, such as septic tanks, had the right to ask their water firms to be connected to the main network if their set-ups were causing or were likely to cause "environment or amenity" issues.