The EA requires water companies to provide data on storm overflow usage but not for emergency overflows (EO). Thanks to Peter Williams we know about the EO at Budleigh’s Lime Kiln pumping station. There must be more. Where are they? – Owl
Lucie Heath inews.co.uk
The watchdog responsible for preserving the environment has no idea how much sewage is being spilt into a protected body of water in the Lake District, i has learnt.
Although the lake is showing signs of environmental damage, the Environment Agency (EA) is not collecting any data on the amount of sewage being dumped into it from an “emergency overflow” pipe.
Esthwaite Water is a 280-acre (1.13 km2) lake connected to England’s largest lake, Windermere. It is known as being the favourite spot of children’s author and former Lake District resident Beatrix Potter, but it now frequently contains algal blooms that can be deadly for the lake’s aquatic life.
While the EA monitors other sewage overflows in the Windermere catchment for spills, the one in Esthwaite remains a blind spot. This is because the watchdog does not track every situation in which water companies dump raw sewage.
Campaigners accused the EA of “failing in its role as regulator”, and called on the watchdog to do more to investigate the sources of pollution in the region to protect the once pristine lake from sewage spills.
It is “absolutely absurd that untreated sewage is being allowed to discharge into a site of special scientific interest – let alone that it’s going unmonitored,” said Matt Staniek, a conservationist and founder of the Save Windermere campaign.
Esthwaite Water has been designated a site of special scientific interest, the name given to areas in the UK that are afforded special protections – for example from development or agriculture – due to their environmental importance.
The lake is also one of the UK’s 141 Ramsar sites, the name given to wetlands deemed to be of international importance, for example due to the wildlife they support.
But several sites in the Lake District, including Esthwaite Water, have shown signs of deterioration over a period of decades, partly due to sewage pollution.
Frequent algal blooms have been observed at Esthwaite Water, a sign of high nutrient levels as a result of sewage and agricultural pollution.
Algal blooms are harmful to freshwater ecosystems as they restrict oxygen levels and in more serious cases can cause mass fish deaths. These blooms can also produce toxins that make humans sick.
The local water company, United Utilities (UU), is allowed to release sewage into the lakes and rivers within the Windermere catchment from various sites.
Usually this sewage is treated at a wastewater treatment plant before being released into the environment, but UU is also permitted to discharge untreated waste during periods of heavy rainfall if its infrastructure is becoming overwhelmed. It does this through pipes called ‘storm overflows’.
The EA requires water companies to provide data on storm overflow usage but not for emergency overflows, such as the pipe releasing sewage into Esthwaite Water.
Concerns have been raised over how often water companies are utilising overflows both within the Lake District and across the wider country.
Latest official figures show water companies in England and Wales spilled from storm overflows more than 380,000 times in 2022, adding up to over two million hours, including 5,904 hours in the Windermere catchment.
But, as i recently revealed, these figures do not show the whole picture because the EA is not currently monitoring water companies’ use of emergency overflows. These can be used to dump untreated sewage during emergencies such as an electrical or mechanical failure.
The watchdog currently only requires water companies to monitor these overflows if they discharge sewage in designated shellfish water, meaning just 10 per cent of England’s almost 7,000 emergency overflows are monitored.
While these overflows are only supposed to be used in rare circumstances, the data available shows some are being used frequently, including those operated by UU.
This includes another emergency overflow in the Lake District, on the banks of Lake Ullswater, that spilled 34 times in 2022, amounting to a total 660 hours.
One of the unmonitored emergency overflows is attached to a pumping station that sits on the western banks of Esthwaite Water.
The only publicly available data on Esthwaite pumping station is patchy, covering a series of months between 2013 and 2017.
It shows the site spilled intermittently during this period, including 17 times during October 2015.
“It’s potentially a big spiller but where is the data? If there was data previously why is there not data now?” asked Mr Staniek.
The conservationist has tried to obtain data about the site, including how often it is has experienced technical failures, through submitting Environmental Information Requests to both the EA and UU.
However, the EA said it did not hold the data he asked for, while UU refused to provide the information.
Mr Staniek said: “Esthwaite holds international ecological significance, yet the Agency is not fully holding United Utilities accountable for the damage being inflicted upon it.”
He called for a public inquiry into the EA, which he said was “failing in its role as regulator”.
‘Transparency is fundamental’
Earlier this year research published by the charity WildFish in collaboration with Save Windermere sampled every river in the Windermere catchment and found a decline in insects in areas near where sewage is discharged.
The groups raised concerns about the impact on wider ecosystems in the area, describing the invertebrates as a “key component of a river’s food web”.
WildFish chief executive Nick Measham said the EA “should be carrying out more monitoring” at Esthwaite, as the lake is “clearly suffering from the impact of too much phosphate or nutrients going into it”.
“In general we would call for all water company discharges to be monitored and for water companies and the Environment Agency to make all of that data available to independent scrutineers. Transparency is fundamental to accountability. At the moment we have water companies that are not transparent and patently not accountable,” he said.
The Environment Agency said: “We are requiring companies to monitor all emergency overflows from 2025, including at Hawkshead and Esthwaite Lodge pumping stations. This is in addition to the 100 per cent of storm overflows in England, which are already monitored. Emergency overflows are different and must only operate in urgent circumstances like electrical powers failures or mains bursts.
“Water companies must already report any discharges of sewage in emergency overflows. We investigate any instances where permits are not being followed and take enforcement action if necessary.”
United Utilities was approached for comment but did not respond.
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