Calls for Thames Water to share sewage spill data after £2.3m fine

A stream in Henley lost almost all of its fish because of sewage pollution in 2016

There have been calls for the UK's largest water company to share real-time data about sewage spills after it was fined £2.3m for polluting a stream.

Jo Robb, a councillor for South Oxfordshire, said Thames Water needed a "clear plan" to notify communities when discharges were happening.

The company was fined after more than 1,000 fish died in Henley-on-Thames in 2016.

Oxford City Council has also called for water quality data to be made public.

The local authority is campaigning to make a stretch of the River Thames in Oxford a "designated bathing" area.

It is currently legal for Thames Water to dump raw, untreated sewage into rivers and streams at times of heavy rainfall when treatment works are overwhelmed, the council has said.

'No objection'

Ms Robb, South Oxfordshire's "Thames Champion", said she welcomed a move by the company to provide public alerts for sewage spills at six locations in Oxfordshire.

But she said releasing information on an "ad hoc basis" gave a "false impression" that sewage was not being released at other times.

"Given that Thames Water has data monitors installed on most, if not all, of its outfalls, I feel that a clear plan with timescales, in particular for areas of high amenity, is overdue," she said.

An investigation by the Environment Agency in 2016 found Fawley Court Ditch in Henley had high levels of ammonia after Thames Water had polluted the stream with sewage.

The agency said the stream lost "almost all its fish to the pollution" and the company has now apologised.

Linda Smith, Oxford city councillor for leisure and parks, said Thames Water had confirmed to campaigners it had "no objection in principal" to supplying real-time information, but added she was told there was "work to be done" to make it accessible.

She said: "The information will be useful in building our case for designated bathing water status protection for the Thames in Oxford."

Thames Water has been contacted for comment.