BBC: Sewage 'nuisance' complaint made against water firm
“A council has been asked to investigate sewage discharges into Windermere, with campaigners claiming it constitutes a "nuisance" under environmental laws.
Save Windermere filed a complaint against United Utilities to Westmorland and Furness Council, alleging dozens of sewage discharges had caused a "statutory nuisance".
United Utilities responded that it had invested £75m upgrading treatment sites and infrastructure around Windermere and more work was planned to halve sewage spills.
The council said it had received an "allegation of statutory nuisance regarding discharges into Windermere" and was considering its response.
Campaigners said the complaint was the first of its kind in the UK against a water company.
Save Windermere alleged more than 100 incidences of sewage being discharged into and around the river Rothay in Ambleside over a 13-month period amounted to a statutory nuisance.
It said the discharges were in addition to data which alleged there were at least 234 days with illegal early spills of untreated sewage, external by United Utilities into Windermere and the surrounding catchment between 2018 and 2022 – including 75 days where illegal spilling occurred at Ambleside Wastewater Treatment Works.”
