Eden village gets main connection

16 July 2010

A tiny Eden village has been connected to the mains sewer network for the first time.

Around 31 homes at Hackthorpe, near Penrith, have been given the chance to move off their old septic tanks in favour of letting water company United Utilities deal with their waste water.
 
The change follows a £600,000 scheme to install around a kilometre of gravity sewer in Hackthorpe.
 
The sewer connects direct to a new £5.7m wastewater pipeline which was completed in June and which will transfer waste from Hackthorpe, and eventually other rural communities, to Penrith sewage works.
 
Project manager Paul Hodgson said the scheme was part of United Utilities' £40m programme to bring mains sewerage to rural settlements, most of them in Cumbria.
 
"Hackthorpe was one of our smaller projects but there's no doubt the benefit will be great for the local environment. Wastewater treatment standards are increasing all the time and privately-owned septic tanks can pose a risk to local water courses if they are not properly maintained and updated."
 
Residents in Hackthorpe who opted to connect to the new sewer will now benefit from six months free sewerage charges from August 1, as part of an incentive scheme by United Utilities.
 
Other projects which are still ongoing in the area are at Cliburn, Great Strickland, Colby, Crosby Ravensworth and Maulds Meaburn.