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Looking After Your Septic Tank

News Release:

The ‘Loving our Lake’ project team is asking local residents and businesses in the Llanberis area to ‘Love their septic tanks’ and take action to ensure the well-being of Llyn Padarn. A guide and logbook for householders is being launched this week to help them keep their septic tanks in good condition.

“If your property has a septic tank, you will be using it every day, yet often they are hidden and forgotten. We are asking people in the Llanberis area to keep their septic tanks in tip-top condition because ultimately this helps us to protect Llyn Padarn,” says Emma Edwards-Jones, project manager for the ‘Loving our Lake’ project.

Septic tanks that are not maintained and emptied regularly can cause pollution, which is a contributing factor to algal blooms such as the one that occurred in 2009. The 2009 algal bloom, which closed the lake for much of the summer, had a significant impact on the ecology of the lake and seriously affected local businesses.

The new guide, entitled ‘Looking after your septic tank: A guide and logbook for householders’, was developed and written by the ‘Loving our Lake’ project team in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales. It will be distributed to all households that do not use mains sewerage and are thought to have a septic tank. The guide provides practical information on finding, maintaining and emptying septic tanks to enable householders to prevent pollution and meet their legal responsibilities.

Following a very successful first year for ‘Loving our Lake’, the project has just received further funding, from Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, for a second year. “We are delighted that Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is ‘Loving our Lake’ by backing the project for another 12 months, and grateful for its continued support. We feel we are making a flying start with the launch of this new guide. The good management of septic tanks is vital to ensuring that Llyn Padarn, and the wildlife that depends on it, can continue to delight both local residents and visitors to Llanberis,” says Emma.

The ‘Loving our Lake’ project has been developed and is delivered by Snowdonia-Active, a social enterprise based in Caban, Brynrefail. It has the backing of Natural Resources Wales and is supported by Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.

Steve Wilson, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water’s director of wastewater services said: “We’re delighted to continue supporting the ‘Loving our Lake’ project which has already delivered great results in advising people living near Llyn Padarn of the role they can play in helping to protect the lake. “Their work in turn helps boost the effectiveness of the £2.5million we have so far invested at the wastewater treatment works to remove phosphates from the wastewater during the treatment process.”

Local information and hints on the changes everyone can make to help prevent pollution can be found on the ‘Loving out Lake’ Facebook Community Page ‘llynpadarn’. Please ‘like’ and share this page with friends www.facebook.com/llynpadarn to support us,” says Emma. More information is available online at www.loving-our-lake.org. This website contains details of how residents and businesses can make simple changes to make a big difference.

Download Your Guide and Logbook for Looking after your Septic Tank.