MP’S OUTRAGE OVER MASSIVE SEWAGE DISCHARGE INCREASE
Twickenham MP Munira Wilson has responded to new figures released by the Environment Agency today showing that Thames Water, which covers Twickenham, discharged sewage into waterways for a staggering 196,414 hours last year – a 163% increase on 2022.
Previous research from the Liberal Democrats had found that Mogden, near Twickenham, is historically one of the worst offenders – and where 1 billion litres of sewage (964 million litres) was discharged on a single day in 2021.
Liberal Democrats are calling for tougher action against sewage dumping in local rivers and waterways, including replacing Ofwat with a tougher regulator, and calling for a ban on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage into waterways.
The party is also calling for Thames Water to be put into special administration and reformed as a public benefit company. Conservative MPs have consistently voted against measures which would have helped to tackle the crisis.
The MP said: “Enough is enough. Public opinion is clear. People don’t want our precious waterways pumped full of disgusting and dangerous sewage. The threat to people, wildlife and the environment is too great a cost.
“The Government needs to step up, clamp down and make sure water companies are held to account. We’ve got to stop the spills, fix the leaks, invest in infrastructure, and end sky-high bonuses and the revolving door between regulators and water companies.”
Munira pointed to the latest figures from the Environment Agency as yet more reason why Thames Water’s controversial proposals to pump treated sewage into the river above Teddington Lock in her constituency should not go ahead.
“Thames Water continues to waste taxpayer money by ploughing ahead with their proposals to pump treated sewage into the river at Teddington, in spite of an outpouring of local opposition.
“Time and time again, Thames Water have maintained that the effluent it would pump into the river at Teddington would be of the same quality as the river water itself. Yet we have not been assured that compounds and chemicals like PFAS chemicals would be filtered out. People just don’t trust the water companies, and these latest sewage figures show exactly why.”
