Water accompany accused of pumping 10 million litres of raw sewage into England\u2019s largest Lake in repeat of 2022 pollution incident <\/p>
Taylor Swift eulogised the natural beauty of Windermere<\/a> in the poetic lyrics of her song\u00a0\u2018The Lakes\u2019<\/em>, which featured on her 2020 blockbuster album Folklore.<\/strong><\/p> A\u00a0BBC Panorama investigation<\/a>\u00a0found that,\u00a0in an almost identical incident to a major sewage spill in 2022, regional water company\u00a0United Utilities\u00a0discharged\u00a0raw sewage\u00a0into Windermere (England’s largest lake<\/a>) in February this year.<\/p> According to the\u00a0Panorama<\/em>\u00a0investigation,\u00a0an estimated 10 million litres of\u00a0untreated sewage was\u00a0mistakenly\u00a0pumped into the lake before United Utilities engineers could fix the fault.<\/p> Water quality teams from the Environment Agency were informed after the discharge had been stopped\u00a0and\u00a0couldn\u2019t find any substantial evidence of any\u00a0serious\u00a0impact on water quality.\u00a0But the\u00a0Panorama<\/em>\u00a0investigation claimed that\u00a0the\u00a0Agency\u00a0failed to investigate the incident\u00a0properly\u00a0or\u00a0question\u00a0United Utilities\u2019\u00a0account of events.<\/p> Experts maintain that, owing to its location, Windermere should be a pristine upland lake with crystal clear water for most of the year,\u00a0but in recent\u00a0summers\u00a0the water has turnedgreen due to algal\u00a0\u2018blooming\u2019 \u2013 an explosion\u00a0of algae\u00a0which\u00a0can reduce oxygen levels in the water, killing fish and aquatic life.<\/p> Every summer, thousands of watersports enthusiasts flock to\u00a0Windermere\u00a0to sail<\/a>, paddle<\/a> and swim<\/a>, but blooms of toxic blue-green algae<\/a> seriously impact these leisure activities.<\/p> Water quality campaigners claim that the algal blooms are being made worse by nutrients from untreated sewage acting as fertilisers that turbocharge algae growth.<\/p> Matt Staniek,\u00a0founder of\u00a0Save Windermere<\/a>, which\u00a0campaigns to clean up water quality in the National Park,\u00a0said\u00a0this was another example of the\u00a0Environment Agency\u00a0failing to hold\u00a0a\u00a0privatised water company\u00a0to account.<\/p> \u201cI won\u2019t let my dog swim in certain parts of Windermere and I certainly wouldn\u2019t swim anywhere near United Utilities\u2019 outlets in the lake,\u201d said Matt.<\/p> \u201cBecause Windermere is such a huge body of standing water, it takes around nine months for water entering the top of the lake to exit at the lower end, meaning any sewage remains in the lake for a long time.<\/p> \u201cYet, more than a year after a similar fault caused the discharge of raw sewage in 2022, it seems that nothing has been done to prevent this happening again.\u00a0United Utilities didn\u2019t stop the discharge for 10 hours\u00a0and then waited another three hours before notifying the Environment Agency.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cIt\u2019s a fundamental failure of regulation that\u00a0allows\u00a0shareholder returns to be prioritised over environmental protection. United Utilities has failed to invest in the infrastructure needed to cope with additional demand from the visitor economy and more unpredictable\u00a0climate.\u201d<\/p> A United Utilities spokesperson said: \u201cThis incident was caused by an unexpected fault on the third-party telecoms cable network in the area, which United Utilities was not notified about and which affected both the primary system and United Utilities\u2019 backup.\u00a0 As soon as we discovered this fault was affecting the Glebe Road pumping station, our engineers took urgent steps to resolve the situation and we informed the Environment Agency within an hour of the pollution being confirmed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p> An Environment Agency spokesperson said:\u00a0\u201cThe pollution incident at Bowness was reported to us by United Utilities as the result of a major systems communication failure in the area. Our officer attended the scene to confirm with UU that the discharge had ceased and to carry out water sampling in areas affected. \u00a0<\/p> \u201cWe are undertaking a thorough investigation into the incident which involves examining further evidence from United Utilities. If we determine a permit breach has taken place, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action.\u201d<\/p> Describing the BBC reporting as \u2018inaccurate\u2019, DEFRA\u00a0\u2013 the Government ministry responsible for the environment \u2013 said it was committed to improving water quality in Windermere and would be reviewing wastewater treatment works permits within the catchment.<\/p> Local MP Tim Farron said: \u201cThis week\u2019s revelations from the BBC are absolutely scandalous. They are also a stark reminder that this Government are leaving Windermere, and so many other of our precious lakes and rivers woefully unprotected.<\/p> \u201cThat\u2019s why I have put forward amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill in the House of Commons which would prosecute water company bosses for polluting Britain\u2019s waterways. This new change in the law would deliver justice for swimmers, wildlife and our natural environment.\u201d<\/p> Tim\u2019s constituency covers Windermere.<\/p> The Lake District National Park is\u00a0a UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/a> and\u00a0one of England\u2019s most popular tourist destinations, attracting millions of visitors from around the world each year. At\u00a05.7\u00a0square\u00a0miles in area, Windermere is the largest in a string of lakes, tarns and meres from which the Lake District takes its name. <\/p> Often simply referred to as \u2018The Lakes\u2019, this mountainous region in north-western England is some 2,400 square miles in size and is home to the nation\u2019s highest mountain: Scafell Pike<\/a> 3,210ft; and also its deepest lake: Wastwater at 258ft. The Lake District was popularised by the romantic poets William Wordsworth <\/a>and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the early 19th<\/sup>\u00a0Century.<\/p> Swift is the latest in a long line of artists and poets who were captivated by the natural beauty of England\u2019s Lake District \u2013 stretching back to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth in the early 19th Century. The Lakes Lyrics<\/strong><\/p> \u201cTell me what are my words worth?<\/em><\/p> \u201cTake me to the Lakes, where all the poets went to\u00a0<\/em>die.<\/em><\/p> \u201cI don\u2019t belong, and my beloved, neither do\u00a0<\/em>yo<\/em>u<\/em><\/p> \u201cThose Windermere Peaks look like a perfect place to cry.\u201d<\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Water accompany accused of pumping 10 million litres of raw sewage into England\u2019s largest Lake in repeat of 2022 pollution incident <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":37082,"template":"","categories":[1,27],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/05\/taylor-swifts-beloved-windermere-is-flooded-with-sewage-finds-new-investigation.jpg",2121,1414,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/05\/taylor-swifts-beloved-windermere-is-flooded-with-sewage-finds-new-investigation-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/05\/taylor-swifts-beloved-windermere-is-flooded-with-sewage-finds-new-investigation-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/05\/taylor-swifts-beloved-windermere-is-flooded-with-sewage-finds-new-investigation-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/05\/taylor-swifts-beloved-windermere-is-flooded-with-sewage-finds-new-investigation-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/05\/taylor-swifts-beloved-windermere-is-flooded-with-sewage-finds-new-investigation-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2024\/05\/taylor-swifts-beloved-windermere-is-flooded-with-sewage-finds-new-investigation-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Water accompany accused of pumping 10 million litres of raw sewage into England\u2019s largest Lake in repeat of 2022 pollution incident","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/37081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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