Last year, Save Windermere, in partnership with Richard Flemmings , embarked on a groundbreaking data collection programme, backed by the UK Space Agency , to study England's largest freshwater lake, Windermere. Well, now we are incredibly excited to announce that we have the results! And they are incredibly straight... forward: ➡️ There is a direct correlation between visitor loading in the area and algal growth in Windermere. ➡️ Algal growth has been shown to worsen when lake temperature increases. ➡️ There is no correlation between agriculture and algal spikes in Windermere. ➡️ In the last 3 years, there have been single days where over 300,000 people were in the catchment. ➡️ Despite owning the vast majority of sewage infrastructure in and around Windermere, United Utilities refused to provide any data for this publicly funded study to help protect our lake. This work builds on Save Windermere’s growing, rigorous scientific portfolio working closely with organisations like Windrush WASP and WildFish but this catchment-wide study with Richard Flemmings , looking at the overall health of Windermere, has now clearly demonstrated that when more people are here, we see more algae in the lake and the climate exacerbates this issue even further. This underscores the necessity for a long-term infrastructure investment plan, which surpasses the current inadequate proposals, addressing both untreated and treated sewage. Save Windermere now has even more evidence that justifies our overarching campaign message; stop putting sewage in Windermere. This solution has been implemented in lakes all over the world including the famous Lake Annecy in France. Their lake is now free from sewage and is classified as the cleanest in Europe. Similar action must be taken to protect this nation’s lake forever. Our full blog can be found here which also links to the full report and analysis produced by Map Impact ⬇️ BBC News (UK) story here ⬇️ BBC Breakfast Jonah Fishershow more

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret Surely it's the mark of a civilised country for its lakes and rivers to be clean.

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret What a brilliant visualisation and explanation of the Windermere sewage pollution!! Excellent video by @MattStaniek and the Save Windermere team👍👍👍👍👍

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret That BBC report: "Tourist influx turns Windermere green, researchers say" misses the point in the headline doesn't it? It's pretty clear that the lack of sewage treatment is turning Windermere green. Excellent work continuing this fight @MattStaniek

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret Great work @MattStaniek sad that ordinary citizens need to fight so hard to keep our environment clean and protected.

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret Have often wondered where does all the 💩 go in holiday destinations abroad. #ibiza

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret “That’s not a trout Roger”, said Titty.

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret Presumably inputs from all the private septic tanks also increases during times of high visitor numbers too? Do you have data on these too - qualitative and quantitative?

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret Thank you @MattStaniek for a great video explainer. The Map Impact report is brilliant in understanding how we got here. #savewindermere #stopthepoo

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret

@MapImpact @spacegovuk @Feargal_Sharkey @BBCBreakfast @terrybnd @ChrisGPackham @michaelastracha @GaryLineker @sascampaigns @GreenJennyJones @OfficialUoM @campbellclaret Massive respect to you, Matt. Keep at it.