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Thames Water has announced it will spend £1.8bn to cut spills to rivers from 26 sewer overflows in London.
These discharges happen when rain flows into the sewers from paved surfaces, overwhelming them. Cities around the world are creating vegetated areas, in effect lots of small basins, to absorb and slow down rain water (more about how they work here).
We asked Thames Water, of the 26 sites, how many will use these more resilient options to reduce spill frequencies. They have told us that they are “considering” green infrastructure as the main options for 22 of them. London Waterkeeper welcomes this announcement, but we need them to COMMIT to these options. This is a significant declaration which wasn’t in the press release on March the 13th.
We need your support to make sure they do use green infrastructure. We don’t want to be told that the company considered but rejected using these methods to stop rain causing river pollution.
Thames Water have asked if we want to meet with them to discuss their approach to green infrastructure options and we will be taking them up on this offer (unlike many river charities we don’t take any funding from water companies, so we are independent).
What Can I Do?
Help us by sending this email to Thames Water, our legally binding information request. We need to know they will evaluate the options fairly. Simply click the button below to open the request in your email (or copy our template below and email it to EIR.Requests@thameswater.co.uk). The more that are sent, the greater the pressure!
Email Template:
To EIR.Requests@thameswater.co.uk
Dear Thames Water,
In your announcement on the 13th March 2025, you said £1.8bn will be invested over the next 5 years to reduce spills from 26 storm overflows on four rivers. This is part of your Storm Overflow Reduction Plan. In a reply to London Waterkeeper (10/4/25) you say that you are considering green infrastructure as primary options for 22 of the 26 sites. In another reply (17th June 2025) you say that you will have made your decisions on these sewer overflow sites by mid-2029 at the latest.
As you will know cities from Copenhagen to Philadelphia and Cardiff are using nature to stop rain causing overflows. We want Thames Water to commit to using green infrastructure, not just consider it. This would have the additional benefits of reducing the threat of street flooding and air pollution. Simply increasing the size of the sewer pipes would not be a resilient option, running the risk that rain could still see them pollute rivers. In your second reply to London Waterkeeper you recognise the additional benefits that green infrastructure has when you say the “optioneering process aims at defining the best value solution for each site… To that effect, we include the benefits that specific technologies would be able to provide in addition to the main benefit of contributing towards the reduction of discharges.” This echoes the expectation from the Government in its Storm Overflows Reduction Plan that water companies will “prioritise a natural capital approach”
In your second reply to London Waterkeeper you also recognise that using green infrastructure to reduce sewer overflows would also help you cut the risk of surface water flooding and sewers backing up into people properties or roads (aligning your Storm Overflows Action Plan Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan).
Under the Environmental Information Regulations 2014 I would like to request the following information:
Will Thames Water announce the solutions decisions for each storm overflow as they are reached, with the outcome detailed on your ‘Investment plans for storm discharge sites’ webpage?
Has the company used green infrastructure before to reduce storm overflows?
Has Thames Water recruited staff with experience of delivering green infrastructure or does it plan to? If not, how will the potential solutions be assessed and modeled?
You say your Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan and Storm Overflows Action Plan were aligned when submitted to the Environment Agency in January 2023. To what degree are they still aligned, and if this has changed, how?
Electronic communication is fine.
Yours faithfully,
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