Wednesday 28 April 2021
Thames Water says “putting untreated sewage into rivers is unacceptable” and it’s working on a solution
The Mogden works in Isleworth discharged the equivalent of 400 Olympic swimming pools’ capacity of waste into the Thames over two days last autumn.
The Environment Agency gives water companies permits to release untreated sewage into rivers via storm overflows after heavy rainfall.
This is to stop the sewage backing up into homes.
But a BBC report claims Mogden breached the terms of its permit by discharging waste on 43 days last year.
A Thames Water spokesman has told Jackie News that despite its best efforts, some of its 350 sewage works struggle during heavy or persistent rain.
It says considerable resilience work is planned for Mogden which is likely to cost in excess of £100 million to reduce the risk of discharges.
It also says the planned Thames Tideway Tunnel, due for completion in 2024, will deliver a “huge reduction” in discharges London-wide.
Full Thames Water Statement:
Eliminating these discharges is not going to be quick, easy, or inexpensive and we welcome the continued support of our customers and regulators, who are equally passionate about this topic, as well as extensive collaboration with local communities and other stakeholders, to achieve cleaner rivers.
“The Thames Tideway Tunnel, due for completion in 2024 at a total investment of more than £4 billion, will deliver a huge reduction in the discharges to the tidal River Thames in London.
We absolutely want to go further, invest more, and play our part in helping the environment to thrive. There is a long way to go – and we can’t do it on our own – but the ambition is clear.”
Supporting information:
Despite the best efforts of our operational staff and maintenance teams, we recognise that some of our 350 sewage treatment works have difficulty in treating the full flows specified in their permits following heavy or persistent rain. In many cases where we believe this may be happening, we have firm commitments in our business plan to provide upgrades.
This includes considerable resilience work planned for Mogden over the next couple of years, which is likely to cost in excess of £100m to reduce the risk of discharges.
posted by Radio Jackie News Team @ 7:29 am
