The government will pledge to “clean up Windermere” and ensure “only rainwater” enters the polluted English beauty spot.

Environment secretary Steve Reed and water minister Emma Hardy will be in Windermere on Monday as part of a Things Can Only Get Cleaner tour.

The government has said it will “clean up Windermere” after criticism over the volume of sewage being pumped into England’s largest lake. The environment secretary, Steve Reed, pledged “only rainwater” would enter the famous body of water in the Lake District, putting an end to the situation where it Windermere was being “choked by unacceptable levels of sewage pollution”.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed will today (Monday 10 March) set out government ambition to end sewage discharged into Windermere. This comes ahead of a thorough feasibility study – established by the ‘Only Rainwater’ local coalition including United Utilities, the Environment Agency, Ofwat, Save Windermere, Love Windermere, the Lake District National Park authority, and Westmorland and Furness Council. The study will determine what would be needed to eliminate sewage discharges into the lake, drawing on successful examples and innovation from around the world to create a roadmap for delivery. 

Raw sewage was released into Windermere for most of last year, data obtained under freedom of information laws has revealed. The water company United Utilities, which serves the Lake District and the northwest, released untreated sewage into England’s largest lake for more than 6,000 hours last year, equivalent to an average of 17 hours a day.

The chief executive of United Utilities has told MPs increased pollution levels are down to better monitoring and increased wet weather but admitted the company needed to do more to prevent discharges in the future.

Environmental campaigners in the Lake District have launched their 'most ambitious' project to date to make Windermere sewage free. 'Save Windermere' announced the new scheme last week, providing a step-by-step guide for local residents and businesses to move away from privately owned sewage treatment.

Connecting to the main sewage network could help cut down pollution into England's largest lake, campaigners say. The Save Windermere campaign said those with private waste systems, such as septic tanks, had the right to ask their water firms to be connected to the main network if their set-ups were causing or were likely to cause "environment or amenity" issues.

Water quality monitors installed in response to toxic pollution near England's largest lake are ineffective, campaigners have claimed.

Save Windermere campaigners claimed a test they carried out using non-toxic dye showed the equipment was wrongly placed, meaning it could not pick up flow coming from a nearby sewage pipe.

United Utilities had been told by the Information Commissioner Office (ICO) it needed to release environmental information requested by the Save Windermere campaign group.

United Utilities has dropped legal fight to block access to data on the discharge of treated sewage in Lake District. The water company United Utilities has conceded defeat in its legal battle to block public access to data on treated sewage it is discharging into Windermere in the Lake District.

Matt Staniek, the founder of Save Windermere reflects on a year of tireless campaigning.

Windermere has once again been in the news for the wrong reasons, after the Observer, working with Professor Peter Hammond, reported their analysis that United Utilities allegedly discharged illegally into Windermere on more than 500 days from 2018 to 2023.