Water company pumps 72 billion litres of sewage into River Thames sparking fury

10 November 2023 , 22:23

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A sewage overflow outlet discharging into the River Thames (Image: Getty Images)

A water firm has been accused of “environmental crimes” after it was revealed that it had pumped at least 72 billion litres of sewage into the River Thames since 2020.

Thames Water last year discharged at least 14.3 billion litres of sewage into the river, but the worst year was 2021 when at least 32 billion litres was released.

Mogden, near Twickenham, South West London – an area that includes a nature reserve – was the worst affected area, with 17.1 billion litres of sewage discharged. It was closely followed by Crossness, East London, where 15.8 billion litres was spilled.

The data was revealed by an environmental information request submitted by the Liberal Democrats, who are calling for water companies to be more transparent with data on sewage spills.

Munira Wilson, the Lib Dem MP for Twickenham, said: “These horrifying revelations are proof that Thames Water needs to be ripped up. It is outrageous that Conservative ministers continue to sit on their hands and let Thames Water get away with this. The Government is standing idly by whilst our rivers are poisoned and water firm execs pocket millions. The era of water firms putting profit before the environment must come to an end.

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“These water firms are committing environmental crimes which are destroying our rivers and wildlife habitats, all whilst pocketing eye-watering sums of money.”

A Thames Water statement said: “We refute any allegations of a cover-up. With respect to the duration of sewage discharge, ‘near real-time data’ is published for each of our 468 permitted discharge locations.”

Nada Farhoud