Campaign encourages connection to sewage network
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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.
Hotel owner Stephen Leahy, who has backed the campaign and whose property uses a package treatment plant, said he had not known he could ask to be connected.
United Utilities said the information was "readily available" on its website.
Mr Leahy, owner of Holbeck Gyll Estate in Windermere, Cumbria, said he had completely redone the hotel's wastewater set-up when he bought the site 15 years ago.
"I've spent a fortune on it to make sure it's right," he said.
The hotel's system uses bacteria to digest the organic matter and the liquid produced as a result should be clean enough to be released into a local waterbody, under the licence of the Environment Agency (EA).
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But the founder of the Save Windermere campaign Matt Staniek said curbing the pollution from private sewage systems could help clean up the lake.
Discharges can contain heightened levels of the nutrient phosphorus, which have been linked to toxic algal blooms in the lake.
Connecting a property's wastewater to the public sewage system made it the water firm's responsibility to ensure it was treated effectively and mets environmental standards, said Mr Staniek.
Mr Leahy acknowledged septic tanks and package treatment plants were not always a bad thing and they could be very effective, especially in residential properties where "you know what exactly is going in it".
But the key issue with his situation was he could not control what people put down his drains, he said.
"One person sticks a cup of bleach down [the toilet] and all the bacteria in my tank which eat away at the waste material are dead."
That led to the treated waste failing the EA's water quality tests.
"They are all over me if I'm out by a percentile," he said. "I don't know what else to do."
The EA said it offered "advice and guidance" to people whose equipment they found to not be compliant with permits.
"We find most people welcome our help and advice to ensure that their equipment is working effectively," a spokesperson said.
It also said when permits were found to be in breach, inspectors would audit the equipment again at an unspecified time.
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The campaign has also been backed by the Chesters by the River cafe and holiday park Neaum Crag Estate.
Mr Staniek said taking ownership of these systems would show United Utilities' commitment to "go above and beyond for Windermere".
The water firm said it was working with private sewerage owners to develop ways to cut down nutrient pollution in the waterbody.
"This includes solutions such as innovative bolt-on technology to existing systems that United Utilities may be able to fund and builds on the £200m we're investing in our network to improve water quality," a spokesperson said.