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What can you do

Big windermere survey.jpg

There are so many contributing factors to the pollution in Windermere, there is no one clear and easy solution. This is why the entire community can help by all coming together and protect our ecosystems.

We can all play our part to help improve the water quality in Windermere. From volunteer work to being more conscious of what you put down the drains, there are lots of things we can do to make a difference. 

Here’s a few ideas to get started: 

  1. The BIG Windermere Survey – Join 100 other Citizen Scientists and help take “the biggest snapshot of water quality” on England’s biggest lake (https://www.fba.org.uk/freshwater-citizen-science/the-big-windermere-survey).
  2. Bloomin Algae – Download this Citizen Science app to report the presence of harmful algal blooms of blue-green algae (https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/projects/bloomin-algae). 
  3. Riverfly monitoring – Volunteer to join a team of Citizen Scientists and monitor your local river, helping detect pollution and create long term data sets (https://www.riverflies.org/).
  4. Stop the Block – Wet wipes, period products, fatty food waste – all of these things should go in the bin and not down the drain (https://www.unitedutilities.com/stop-the-block/).
  5. Septic tanks – If your house or business has a septic tank you need to look after it, and that will help look after the lake.  Call of Nature provides advice on how to maintain a healthy non mains system and hints on what to look for if yours is not operating effectively (https://callofnature.info/). 
  6. Eco-friendly detergents – Ever wondered what makes a washing up liquid or shampoo eco-friendly?  It’s all about using products that don’t contain phosphorus.
  7. Misconnections - if you’re planning on some home DIY that includes connecting waste pipes to the drains? Check handy hints and tips here: https://www.unitedutilities.com/help-and-support/wastewater-services/wastewater-pollution/misconnections/