RESIDENTS and visitors may notice the shores of Windermere coming under unusual scrutiny next week.

United Utilities is updating its information about the lake by using boats to carry out a special underwater survey.

Water from Windermere is used to supplement drinking water supplies from Thirlmere and Haweswater reservoirs.

The survey will help the water company to assess more accurately the volume of water in the upper section of Windermere by building up a profile of the lake bed close to the shore. The last time a survey of this kind was carried out on Windermere was in 1937 by the Freshwater Biological Association.

Nearly 70 years on, the work next week will be carried out by Cartographical Surveys using the latest echo sounding and global positioning technology.

Richard Critchley, United Utilities supply planning manager, said: "Visitors to Windermere see it as an area of great natural beauty, but it also plays a key role in the North West's water resources.

"This is why it is important that the volume of water taken is monitored carefully to ensure that any environmental impact is kept to a minimum."

The new survey data will help United Utilities to monitor water abstraction more accurately than ever before.

Mr Critchley added: "People often imagine that a lake bed rises evenly towards the shore, but this is not the case.

"The variations in the surface of the bed can make a difference to the rate at which the shoreline becomes exposed when the lake level drops.

"The better we understand this process, the better we can monitor our water resources and any effect we might have on the lake ecology and other lake users."

The survey gets under way on Monday, October 18, and will continue until the beginning of December, depending on the weather conditions. "We have liaised closely with South Lakeland District Council and the Lake District National Park Authority and will be very careful to minimise any inconvenience to landowners and lake users," said Mr Critchley.