There are many campaigns now across England, to have local water boards divert profits from shareholders to upgraded sewage treatment. On Lake Windermere (Cumbria), there is a big campaign to stop the local water board pumping raw sewage into England’s large body of water, rather than paying out millions in dividends.
Tourists are also discouraged from feeding swans (some so tame they now approach dogs or waddle up to the local supermarket to find food).
The lake has 18 islands (Belle Isle houses a privately-owned 16th century house, once owned by a Roman governor). Or head out to more non-touristy areas like Buttermere, Crummock, Loweswater and Bassenthwaite (the only ‘real lake’).
Download the Surfers against Sewage app to report sickness or pollution, to help them take action against water companies that don’t clean up their mess.
In 2023, Anglian Water was fined £2.65 million for letting untreated sewage overflow into the North Sea due to decommissioning equipment, and failed to act on data due to no alarm system (this is the largest ever environmental fine).
SAS says if brown foamy water is lapping at the shore and ‘smells funky – it’s probably shit’.
Recently, Lake Windermere has been on the national news, due to the huge campaign to ask the local water board (and government) to do something about the massive amounts of untreated sewage that have been flowing both into this lake, and surrounding areas (the lake is drained from its southern most point by River Leven, and replenished by several other surrounding rivers including Brathay, Rothay, Trout Beck and Cunsey Beck.
Yet despite many campaigns (a serious leak emitted raw sewage for 7 days into a stream near Hawkshead and the adjoining village of Near Sawrey (the site of Beatrix Potter’s home), the water board continued to give massive dividends to shareholders, rather than making cleaning up the river the top priority.
This pollution is not just harming humans and pets (the founder of the Save Windermere campaign is a local who broke his back, and used morning wild swims to heal both physically and mentally). But it is harming local fish and the wildlife (otters, kingfishers) that feed on them.
Campaigners want stricter government laws to stop pollution, alongside a ban on any sewage (treated or not) going into Lake Windermere. Ideas proposed include monitoring to study inputs, and monitoring the scale of pollution locally at 15 sample river sites.
Sewage adds something called phosphorus, which creates algae blooms, and this starves the lakes of oxygen (the same reason why environmentalists say to avoid phosphates and chemicals in laundry powder – search our site, we list loads of alternatives!)
Eventually blooms explode and kill surrounding wildlife and fish. Many fish have suffered at nearby Cunsey Beck including Atlantic salmon, white-clawed crayfish, European river eels, trout, pike and perch. The Arctic charr (the local species of fish that has existed since the Ice Age) is now extinct locally.
