Plan to pump wastewater into Thames criticised

Plans to pump treated wastewater into the River Thames in south-west London have been criticised over environmental concerns.

The Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) scheme would see treated sewage pumped into the river above Teddington Lock through an underground pipeline from Mogden Sewage Treatment Works.

Twickenham MP Munira Wilson said the scheme, put forward by Thames Water, could damage the environment and human health.

Thames Water said no untreated sewage water would be pumped into the river.

The TDRA project 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.

It is at pre-application stage and will go into statutory consultation early next year.

Earlier this week, the government approved a separate plan, Thames Water’s Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP) which mentions the Teddington project.

When submitting the WRMP plan for approval last year, Thames Water said the Teddington project 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.

Former Olympic rower Ian McNuff, who lives along the River Thames in Teddington, told BBC London: "The more we looked at it and the more questions we asked, the more uncomfortable we became.

"They cannot guarantee that they will cause no harm. They 'think' it will be as good as it is now but that's not good enough."

A Thames Water spokesperson said that no untreated sewage water would be pumped into the river as part of this scheme and no different to the current water supply system.

Ms Wilson, a Liberal Democrat, said questions about any chemicals that could remain in the river needed to be answered before the proposals were taken forward.

"I want the government to think again. There are many other options available that we know Thames Water looked at but rejected because they say it's too expensive," she said.

An online petition launched in January 2023 to reject the plans has more than 30,000 signatures.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the plan was needed to meet increased water supply needs that come with "rapid population growth" in the south east and climate change.

It added: "That is why this government is committed to increase our water supply while protecting the environment and public health.

"We are going further by introducing legislation to clean up our waterways, attract private-sector investment for upgrades and speed up the building of water infrastructure."

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