Wastewater treatment works have been upgraded in Windermere and Ambleside in a bid to improve water quality.
United Utilities has created additional storage at two sites create an additional 2.6 million litres of storage across the two sites – the equivalent of around 33,000 bathtubs or just over an Olympic size swimming pool.
The firm said as a result of the upgrades, the tanks were redundant and able to be repurposed into storm tanks after the installation of new equipment.
The additional storage will help increase the amount of storm water the sites can store and then return for full treatment, reducing the number of times the storm overflows need to operate during periods of heavy rainfall, it said.
Campaigners are concerned that Windermere is dying because of sewage being released into the lake. The Save Windermere campaign believes both United Utilities and the Environment Agency could do more.
The news from United Utilities comes as three water firms – Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water – face fines of a total of £168 million by industry regulator Ofwat over historic sewage spills. The proposal will now go to public consultation and is part of Ofwat’s largest ever investigation into water company performance.
Andrew Kendall, wastewater lead for United Utilities in Cumbria, said: “We continue to review our network and sites around Windermere to see where we can make further improvements to help improve the water quality of the lake.
“Our teams have worked quickly to repurpose these tanks and it will help make a real difference by reducing storm overflow operations from two of our sites.”
Over the last two decades, United Utilities said it had invested £75 million upgrading wastewater treatment sites, pumping stations and sewers around Windermere, with £45 million of that work completed in 2020.
Further investment is due to take place between now and 2030, it added, to reduce further storm overflow operations at Elterwater, Hawkshead, Ambleside and Near Sawrey.
The company said it was also deploying rapid solutions at a number of sites across Cumbria to help reduce storm overflow operations.
