Major UK Water Company Fighting To Block Access To Just How Much Sewage It Dumps In The Lake District

One of the UK’s biggest water companies is fighting a legal battle to block public access to data on treated sewage it is discharging into Windermere in the Lake District. United Utilities initially claimed that data from phosphorus monitors at sewage treatment works at the lake “was not environmental information”. It later claimed the information on phosphorus – which can pollute watercourses when at high levels – was “internal communication” and exempt from disclosure.

It is also trying to block the release of data on ammonia checks from a plant at Cunsey Beck where hundreds of fish were killed in a pollution incident in 2022 that was caused by an unknown source. The water company is fighting the rulings by the freedom of information watchdog to disclose all the data to the public.

Matt Staniek, the founder of the Save Windermere campaign, said it was “disgraceful” that United Utilities was repeatedly blocking the public from access to environmental information on potential pollutants. The water company has not commented on the costs to date of fighting the cases.

“United Utilities is withholding information which would tell us even more about the true impact of discharges of raw and treated sewage into Windermere,” he said. “There is an overwhelming public interest in understanding how a water company is polluting England’s largest lake.” David Black, the chief executive of Ofwat, the water regulator, said earlier this year that he expected water firms to have a culture of transparency. “Customers have paid companies to install monitors and collect their data,” he said. “They have a right to see what it says.”

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/16/united-utilities-refuses-to-hand-over-data-on-sewage-discharges-into-windermere