Thames Water Has Failed To Upgrade 98 Sewage Treatment & Pumping Plants, So Residents Across SE England Are Suing
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At several sites it is not just raw sewage from storm overflows that causes pollution but also the quality of treated effluent coming from Thames Water facilities, which presents a direct threat to public health, the campaigners say. At Thames’s Newbury sewage treatment plant, raw effluent discharges into the River Kennet, a protected chalk stream. Data shows raw sewage discharges from the plant increased by 240% between 2019 and 2024 from 482 hours to 1,630 hours. Thames says the plant is among its 26 most polluting sites.
Thames wants the water regulator, Ofwat, to allow it to charge customers £1.18bn over the next five years for the upgrades it has failed to carry out. But the regulator has refused to let it pass the full cost on to customers, allowing only £793m, as it deems bill payers have already funded the upgrades. It says any escalation of costs should be borne by Thames Water. With the company failing to act, people living in the catchment are turning to statutory nuisance complaints under section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. In letters to their local authorities, they are asking for decisive action by Thames to stop its sewage pollution that is causing harm along the river.
A statutory nuisance is an activity that unreasonably interferes with the use or enjoyment of land and is likely to cause prejudice or injury to health. Those living in the area say sewage pollution from Thames’s failing sites and infrastructure has made rivers unsafe and disrupted recreation, sport, local businesses and everyday enjoyment.
They cite a 16-year-old rower from Henley rowing club who became unwell after training on the river; tests confirmed he had contracted E coli. His illness coincided with his GCSE exams, preventing him from revising and sitting some papers. In West Berkshire, people are highlighting the case of a kayaker who capsized and became unwell over the following days. And at Tagg’s Island in Hampton, south-west London, five children became ill after playing in the River Thames near Hurst Park. Laura Reineke, who lives in Henley-on-Thames and founded the campaign group Friends of the Thames, said: “People here are fed up with living beside a river that’s being treated like an open sewer. We’ve submitted a nuisance complaint to our local authority because what Thames Water is doing is unacceptable.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/02/people-living-along-polluted-thames-file-legal-complaint-force-water-firm-act