We need to know the condition of Thames Water's sewerage infrastructure.
The company says it needs to spend £19.3 billion to repair drinking water and wastewater systems. But the regulator, Ofwat, says:
“This figure is not robust or reliable…Our concerns centre on: a lack of investigation and data gathering for proposed investments; no clear definition or standard assessment of risk; no clearly defined need or demonstration of the risk that the proposed investment is addressing.” We need you to increase the scrutiny of Thames Water by sending our information request. The company needs to tell the public how much of its sewers it has actually surveyed and how many of its sewage treatment works have infrastructure which is in poor condition.
Thames Water and public control.
Thank you to everyone that sent our email to the company asking them for the list of the first 10 sewer overflows they will upgrade. In their reply they revealed they don’t have a final list yet as they are still in the planning phase.
Last year Thames Water said they would upgrade 26 overflows in London by 2030. In the reply they commit to completing 17 schemes, across the whole region, by the end of 2027.
We also asked them to publish the plans on their website. Because they are not ready, they don't have to. We expected this to be the case, but it means no work can start until they have finalised them. Thames Water also said "...any decisions on whether to pro-actively publish this information on our website have not yet been taken." However, the company doesn't get to choose which information it publishes, the law requires it. Once the plans are complete, if Thames Water refuses to publish them, we will ask you to increase the pressure on the company, and take the next legal step.
With more talk of the company being taken into Special Administration and rumours of 'public control' what could this mean and how would we get there? The creditors of Thames Water want to avoid this and have offered the Government a 'Golden Share' and more control.
When Andy Burnham was Mayor of Greater Manchester he struck a deal with United Utilities. This saw the creation of The Integrated Water Management Plan, a partnership between the Greater Manchester Combined Authorities, the Environment Agency and the water company.
The Sewage Campaign Network has spent a lot time looking at different types of public ownership and wrote to the Government on Monday mapping out a route to a better management of our water. The Network also ran The People's Commission on the Water Sector last year, its report is an excellent assessment of the problems and possible solutions.
Ten years of support from Patagonia.
London Waterkeeper first became a grantee of Patagonia in 2016. The company is one of the few funders that champions advocacy. Without their help we wouldn't have been able to hold Thames Water to account or support grassroots activists. Patagonia doesn't just provide grants but promotes the campaigns of charities and provides mentorship. It also runs its own campaigns - they were a key player in the Vjosa River becoming Europe's first wild river national park.
Report pollution and leaks to Thames Water.
If you see pollution you should always report it to the Environment Agency. It has recruited 500 more water regulation staff which means more inspections are being carried out. However, it won't attend all incidents.
Thames Water has an online reporting system for both drinking water leaks and pollution. It allows you to check if the problem has been reported already. It works well and means that small leaks can be fixed before they become more serious ruptures.
Thank you to Sophie Dawson.
Sophie started volunteering for London Waterkeeper more than two years ago. She carried out crucial research throughout her illness and her work helped create the campaigns we are running now. Sophie sadly passed away last month. She will be greatly missed. We send our deepest sympathies to her family.