United Utilities has announced a proposed additional investment of £156 million for Windermere. We caught up with Delivery Manager Andrew Marshall to discover the action being taken right now to protect Windermere’s water quality.

Tell us more about your role at United Utilities.

I am a delivery manager for the Lake District National Park area covering Keswick all the way down to Grange-over-Sands. I am responsible for the programme management of our upcoming schemes working with project managers and project engineers to deliver the best solution for local communities and the environment.

My role is to manage the design process, making sure that our engineers are progressing schemes, ensuring they are meeting requirements, and managing the programme to make sure we are on track both in terms of timings and budgets.

Can you give us some details of the projects you’re working on? 

Earlier this year we announced a further £156 million to help improve and protect water quality in Windermere. We’re planning to make improvements across nine wastewater treatment works and all six storm overflows that discharge into the lake and deliver a further step change in wastewater treatment. This would see improvements to wastewater treatment sites at: Ambleside, Far Sawrey, Ferry House, Grasmere, Hawkshead, Langdale, Near Sawrey, Outgate and Troutbeck.

This is all part of our action plan for Cumbria to improve river water quality and deliver a stronger, more resilient county. Our commitment includes major investment in our wastewater network and treatment infrastructure to reduce the frequency of storm overflow operations.

Ambleside is one of our flagship projects to improve water quality in Windermere. Work has been ongoing for many months to prepare the way for a new underground storage tank, which will complement the existing treatment infrastructure and further reduce stormwater spills to the lake. We’re proposing to build a tank which can hold 4,500m3 – that’s roughly the same size as two Olympic sized swimming pools.

Can you give us an idea of the work going on behind the scenes?

We’re getting on with this work right now. You may not always see us, but I have a whole team working behind the scenes to develop our plans. At Ambleside we’ve been undertaking ground investigations to understand the local geology and rock formation which will help us identify the tools and methodology we’ll need to use to carry out our work and we’ve also been conducting wildlife and ecology surveys to identify any areas where we need to keep our construction to a minimum.

Once we have confirmed the ground type for our project in Ambleside we'll be looking to submit planning at the end of November. As soon as that is approved, we'll be on site installing the new tank.

How will this new storage tank impact Windermere’s water quality?

We all know the Lake District is prone to heavy rainfall. During a storm event, the tanks will store the water from the downpour. When the storm passes, we'll then be able to empty the tank, and transport this through to the treatment works.

We’ve modelled the size of the tank on the last 10 years’ worth of data on historic rainfall and measured rainfall. Our model takes into account both climate change and future population growth. We’ve also installed rain gauges to verify our thinking. Our aim is to have no more than 10 spills per year on a 10-year average.

Are you investing elsewhere in Cumbria?

Plans are also taking shape in Staveley where we’re making a head start on a multi-million-pound investment to help reduce storm water spills at the wastewater treatment works and address sewer flooding in the village. While we develop a permanent solution, we’ve already increased the capacity of the treatment works, delivered more than 150 water butts to residents, and installed planters, called SuDSPods, which help store rainwater before slowly releasing it into the sewer network. It’s great to see Staveley pioneering community trials to use water wisely and become more sustainable. We’ve also met with local residents to share our plans for Burneside which will increase the sewer network capacity and help address sewer flooding.

We’re also deploying rapid solutions at a number of sites across Cumbria to help reduce storm overflow operations. Cartmel, Lindale, Embleton and Plumbland are just some of the sites where solutions are taking shape. This work is allowing us to increase the treatment and storage capacity, limiting the chances of the works becoming overwhelmed during periods of heavy rainfall and reducing the number of times the storm overflows will operate at these locations.

What are you proudest of in your role? 

I think the ability to make a difference is probably the reason I joined United Utilities. I live in Kendal so it’s very important to me to protect the North West’s waterways. I swam in Windermere when I was younger, and I take my children to Millerground, and they go swimming in the lake so it’s important to me that we get this right.

How does your role shape your vision for the future? 

Our roles are those of custodians, making sure that we deliver what we say we're going to and act at pace. We need to make a step change and drive the action now to create a stronger, greener, and healthier North West for future generations.

What do you hope to achieve through the projects you’re working on in the next year or two? 

I really want to ensure we deliver what we can for the environment. That is what I'm driven towards - really making sure we can have a positive impact on the lake. The proposed improvements to wastewater treatment sites and enhancements to all six storm overflows that discharge into the lake would really make a change.

Those wanting to find out more about the ongoing work in Ambleside can visit a community exhibition on November 6th between 2pm and 7pm at Ambleside Parish Centre, The Centre, Vicarage Rd, Ambleside LA22 9DH.