William Wordsworth described Windermere as “magnificent and beautiful” but two centuries on it is beset by a toxic soup of sewage and chemicals, with private septic tanks proving a hidden threat.

Matt Staniek, who has become a known local and national figure through his Save Windermere Campaign, does not think that Ambleside Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTWs) would be able to process the sewage coming from the proposed local occupancy and affordable homes at Loughrigg Park.

Some activists are raising funds to allow them to campaign full-time. Matt Staniek, a 26-year-old former zoologist in Windermere, has formed a one-man campaign called Save Windermere to protect England’s biggest lake. “For me, it was the threat to our wildlife that really started my campaign,” Staniek said.

Campaigners are intervening to prevent new houses being occupied in several areas of England until sewage treatment works are upgraded to cope.

Four fifths of the shoreline around Lake Windermere falls short of quality standards, with a majority of water samples showing raised levels of pollutants, a survey has found.

In 2021, the United Utilities Staveley sewage works, near Windermere, spilled untreated sewage into a nearby stream 80 times for a total of 1,172 hours, according to an interactive map by The Rivers Trust which documents sewage spills. This was not a one off; the United Utilities plant at Grasmere spilled 90 times for a total of 1,348 hours.

MATT Staniek does not like London but when he was nominated for a national park protector award he packed a five-litre bottle of blue-green algae and set off to Parliament.

A CHANNEL 5 documentary about waterways in Britain will feature Windermere. One of the episodes will be centred around Windermere and Michaela will be shown around the lake and the River Rothay by activist Matt Staniek.

Campaigner Matt Staniek has been raising the alarm about the impact of sewage in the famous lake in the Lake District.

A zoologist campaigning for Lake Windermere to be granted extra environmental protections has warned the rise in sewage being dumped there is the 'epitome' of the problems facing all of Britain's waterways.

As dawn broke over Windermere on Tuesday, Pete Kelly set off in his kayak from the north shore of England’s biggest natural lake, armed with three test tubes. The water did not look tremendously inviting, a film of luminous green algae lapping up on the shingle beach at Waterhead. You should have seen it last week before the rains came, he said: “All of the water up this end was really dense and green.”

Tests show levels of blue-green algae at the Lake District tourism hotspot are higher than recommended, posing ‘a massive health risk’