MP calls for end to river sewage discharges

AN MP has urged Thames Water to stop discharging sewage into the river.

Matt Rodda used Twitter to publish his open letter, which was addressed to the company’s chief executive Sarah Bentley.

The Reading East Labour MP said: “Thames Water has been pumping sewage into Berkshire’s waterways for up to 18 days straight. The company is prioritising short-term profit over safeguarding public health and the environment.”

Mr Rodda asked Ms Bentley to seek environmentally friendly ways to dispose of sewage, saying that residents in riverside areas couldn’t swim or fish safely due to the sewage in the water.

Mr Rodda said: “People in the Reading area and across the country are staggered that sewage is being discharged into British rivers in the 21st century and that water companies have been given a very long time to take action. The situation is a disaster for our natural environment and ecology as well as a significant public health issue.

“I am aware that the sewage system is under enormous pressure because of the rain but this is a huge worry for people using the river and living by it. It is really unpleasant and a health concern and something I have been speaking about for some time.

“In our part of the river, we are a long way from the source, which means more concentrated pollution flows past our houses in Caversham and Henley than it does upstream.”

The MP acknowledged the efforts made by Thames Water to tackle pollution but said it was still making “significant” profits. Last year, Thames Water made almost £400 million and Mrs Bentley was paid £2 million.

Mr Rodda said “I hope that the company will devote far more resources to solving this serious environmental problem.”

A Thames Water spokeswoman said: “Taking action to improve the health of rivers is a key focus for us. We have decided to provide close to real-time information about storm discharges from all our 468 permitted locations.

“This is a key part of our river health action plan to radically improve both performance and transparency in order to protect and improve the environment. The sites will be discharging because the flows being received exceed their capacity. In these circumstances, the infrastructure is designed to discharge in this way to prevent sewage backing up and flooding properties.

“We are absolutely committed to protecting and enhancing our rivers and the communities who love them and we want to make these discharges of diluted sewage unnecessary as quickly as possible. We are the first company to provide these alerts for inland waters and this ‘near real-time’ data is available to customers as a map on our website.

“We want to lead the way with this transparent approach to data and the alerts will be available through an open data platform to third parties such as swimming and environmental groups.

“Of course, what matters most is stopping the need for the discharges. Our shareholders have approved a business plan that sees us spending £2 billion beyond what our customers are funding so we can improve outcomes for customers, leakage and river health. We have a long way to go but the ambition is clear.”