Channel 4 News: Has sewage been illegally dumped into Lake District protected site?
Campaigners are calling for regulators to urgently investigate whether water company United Utilities has been illegally spilling sewage into one of the UK’s most protected sites.
In the heart of the Lake District, Esthwaite Water was eulogised by poet William Wordsworth and was described by author Beatrix Potter as her “favourite lake”. Today it’s a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a RAMSAR wetland site of international importance.
Following a lengthy battle, which involved the intervention of the Information Commissioner, campaign groups Save Windermere and Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP) obtained data from United Utilities about the Esthwaite Lodge Pumping Station. The pumping station has an emergency overflow which feeds into the lake and in emergencies is allowed to release sewage. That, however, doesn’t include periods of heavy rain.
Professor Peter Hammond analysed the data and produced a report, shared with Channel 4 News, and believes the overflow might have spilled sewage at least 20 times since 2020. If those spills weren’t as a result of major failures at the pumping station and caused by heavy rain, they could be in breach of their permit.
Campaigner Matt Staniek says: “It’s just been slowly putting sewage into the environment and the result of that is we’re seeing this water quality decline. And then we’re seeing this flow down to Windermere which obviously now goes green every summer.”
United Utilities categorically deny there have been any spills from the site since 2017. They say they carried out an investigation in July 2024 and that their pear float used to detect spills “was proven to be highly inaccurate and unreliable”. They also say their ultrasonic level monitor was set incorrectly and that “data prior to June 2024 has been confirmed to be inaccurate and, therefore, cannot be used to confirm the occurrence of any spills”.
In response to United Utilities denying the accuracy of the data and the analysis done on it, Matt Staniek has told Channel 4 News: “We had to go through hoops to try and get the data and it was only following the intervention of the Information Commissioner that they finally released the data to us. And then the first thing they say to us is you can’t trust the data.
“If the data’s unreliable, why haven’t they acted in the last 10 years when the alarm’s been going off saying it’s spilling? Have they deliberately ignored that? Or have they just not been competent enough to do their job? It’s blatantly incompetence or deliberate neglect.”
Professor Peter Hammond says: “When you ask for the detailed data the water companies know you’re going to find the evidence, so they say no or they take time to give you the evidence and it’s been an uphill battle.”
While water companies say they are increasingly more transparent, and more data is being published, campaign groups believe there is still some way to go.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has had to intervene 13 times in data disputes with water companies in the last year – 11 of those with United Utilities.
Information Commissioner John Edwards says: “The water industry has not been as transparent as we would like. People do not expect to swim in polluted water. People expect to have clean and transparent water. We expect to have transparent water companies.
“We’ve seen movement in the right direction, a greater willingness to put more information out there. What that’s exposing is some data quality issues.”
A United Utilities spokesperson said: “Reports of any spills from Esthwaite pumping station are wrong and we have already provided the evidence and data that shows this.
“Transparency and customer confidence is extremely important to us and over the last year we have invested to improve our performance in this area. Last year, we issued over 16 million rows of data in response to environmental information requests and are on track to provide more than 17 million rows of data this year.
“To ensure this information is accessible to the public, we publish our responses on our website. This provides a central repository for the public to review data that has already been disclosed, and are currently meeting our target of responding to 100% of environmental information requests within the required service levels. There is always more to do and we have a plan for further improvements that will be delivered over the next 12 months.”
An Ofwat spokesperson said: “In November 2021 we announced an investigation into all wastewater companies in England and Wales, looking into how companies are operating their wastewater treatment works and networks, including spills from overflows.
“This resulted in us opening an enforcement case into United Utilities in July 2024 which is on-going. In the last three months alone, we have concluded similar cases against other water companies resulting in Ofwat confirming over £160m in a combination of penalties and enforcement settlement packages. Given this is an active investigation, we cannot comment further but welcome the information that has been shared with us.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We are currently investigating a number of United Utilities’ sites including those on the Esthwaite catchment. If any of these sites are found to be in breach of environmental permits or causing pollution we will take appropriate enforcement action, up to and including criminal prosecutions.
“We’ve modernised our approach to regulating the water sector, with more regulation and enforcement officers, better data and are on track to carry out 10,000 inspections this year, all of which is holding water companies to account more than ever before.”
