Thames Water to pump treated wastewater into river

Thames water serve 15 million customers across London and the Thames Valley

Thames Water is pressing ahead with plans to pump the River Thames with treated wastewater in south-west London.

This is despite 24,000 people signing a petition objecting to the scheme.

The company submitted its revised draft plan to the government, which addressed future water supply challenges.

Nevil Muncaster, strategic resources director at Thames Water, said "bold decisions" must be made due to "the scale of the water resource challenge".

He added: "We must find ways to adapt to our changing climate, supply water to more people as our population grows, and reduce the amount of water we take from our rivers and chalk streams to protect the environment."

Following a public consultation between December 2022 and March 2023, Thames Water submitted a draft water resources management plan on Thursday.

The plan includes a proposal to take water from the Thames above Teddington Weir, to be transferred via an existing underground tunnel to the Lee Valley reservoirs, and replaced with treated wastewater from Mogden Sewage Treatment Works.

The scheme would provide up to 75 million litres of water a day during droughts and dry weather, but it would not be designed to run at these levels all year.

Thames Water said it was the "cheapest" option available to provide enough water to increase drought resilience in London to a one in 200-year level.

It predicts it will need an extra billion litres of water a day by 2075 to account for climate change and growing population demand.

The petition, created in January, raises concerns about the impact of the scheme on fish, insects and plants and that fines imposed for breaches of regulations would not be enough to protect the river.

The company's statement of response to the consultation, published with the updated plan, said work completed to date shows the Teddington scheme "poses a low risk to the environment and river users" and remains one of its "preferred schemes".

The proposed delivery date has been moved later to 2033, however, so extra monitoring and assessments can be completed.

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will consider the documents submitted by Thames Water and, with advice from regulators, decide the next steps.

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