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Water sports fun on tap at new reservoir People with disabilities will be experiencing the thrill of water-skiing for the first time at a special event to celebrate the transformation of an old china clay pit into a reservoir which will supply water to Cornwall for generations to come.
The former Park Pit on the southern edge of Bodmin Moor is set to become Park Lake, the fifth biggest reservoir in the region, with a capacity of 7.7 billion litres – or the equivalent of 3,080 Olympic swimming pools. Park has been popular with water sports enthusiasts due to its sides offering good protection from prevailing winds and is home to the Cornwall Inland Water Ski Club, which provides lessons and training for the disabled. To mark the acquisition of Park Lake, South West Water will be sponsoring two free days of water sports taster sessions next Monday and Tuesday (September 1 and 2) for 80 people with special needs from across Cornwall. Organiser Charlotte Campbell said: "We have a huge range of ages from seven to sixty attending and a wide range of different disabilities, but all of them are really excited about the prospect. "We are all very much looking forward to the two days and seeing the beaming smiles from the inspirational people that have a go." Construction work at Park Lake to integrate the 55 metre deep pit into the region's water supply network has already begun. Water from the new reservoir will be treated at the St Cleer works and supply South East Cornwall. Neil Whiter, Water Strategy Manager at South West Water, said: "The good news about Park Lake is that it will give the region significant extra water reserves without the need to develop a reservoir from scratch, a process which could have taken 20 years. "We are delighted to sponsor this event and hope that everyone enjoys their visit to Park Lake and the chance to try a new sport." For filming and photo opportunities please contact Chris Mills, Senior Communications at South West Water on 01392 443035 or at ccmills@southwestwater.co.uk Notes to Editors 1) South West Water has also recently acquired Stannon Lake, on the northern edge of Bodmin Moor, from Imerys. It has a capacity of eight billion litres and is around 60 metres deep. Stannon was a working china clay pit until 2002 and development work to turn it into a reservoir is expected to start in 2009. ends August 29, 2008 |
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