THAMES WATER IS IS TOP OF THE TABLE AS A POLLUTER
The local campaigners against the so-called Thames Sewage Pump in Teddington tonight responded to the news that Thames Water is ‘top of the slops’ when it comes to pollution incidents.
A spokesperson for SOLAR (Save Our Lands & River) told Teddington Town: “We have heard about pollution improvement plans for years and when the results come out things are worse not better.
“The surprise is that anyone is surprised that Thames Water continues to enhance its leading status as our top polluter.
“And with consistent failure to deliver improvement the public is being asked to trust them with billions of pounds of new investment over the coming decades. They are the worst choice for spending that money wisely and as guardian of the jewel that is our natural waters.”
Their comments came after it was announced that Thames Water caused almost a third of the water sector’s most harmful pollution incidents in a dire year for England’s waterways according to official figures.
It was just two weeks ago that an area on the river between Ham and Kingston was designated as an official bathing site as approved by the government and Thames Water opened a public consultation programme about their controversial Teddington Direct River Abstraction scheme (TDRA) which involves pumping treated sewage into the river.
The campaign group has launched a petition aiming to raise over 100.000 signatures and has already clocked up over 5000. You can see more details below.
STOP Thames Water TDRA – Save Our Lands & River from Thames Water
The data suggests at least five water company bosses could face a bonus ban this year.
The Times newspaper has revealed that last year will probably be on a par with what one source described as the “horrible” number of serious pollution incidents during 2024.
Provisional figures show 78 serious pollution incidents last year, up from 75 in 2024.
The Environment Agency (EA) defines serious pollution incidents as category one and two out of a four-point scale, meaning significant environmental damage such as raw sewage killing fish. The incidents can also include drinking water contamination and chemical spills.
Thames Water, which has argued it should be spared environmental sanctions as part of a bailout by creditors, was responsible for 25 of the 78 serious pollution incidents last year. It is the second year running that Thames has been the worst polluter.
The EA figures, obtained by campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) using transparency laws, shows Anglian Water, Southern Water and Yorkshire Water were joint second with 12 each.
Welsh Water, which services some homes in England, was the only one of ten wastewater companies operating in England with no serious incidents last year.
Five firms — Thames Water, Southern Water, South West Water, Severn Trent and Anglian Water — caused a category one incident in 2025. If any of those were after the 2025-2026 financial year started, their chief executives will be barred from taking a bonus.
Six water companies had bonus bans in 2024-2025 under reforms passed by the Labour government.
Jo Morley, head of campaigns at SAS, said: “Despite 2025 being a notably dry year, when water companies had every possible advantage, they still racked up 78 serious pollution incidents. A leopard cannot change its spots, and these profiteering polluters cannot stop polluting.”
Wetter years tend to lead to more pollution incidents, when sewer capacity is overwhelmed, because rainwater and sewage is channelled through the same pipes for much of the country’s sewer system, which was designed by the Victorians.
SAS is one of several groups calling for the government to rethink its opposition to nationalising water companies. Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and a potential future prime minister, recently called for water to be “under public control”.
Labour has ruled out nationalisation as too costly and time-consuming. However, recent polling by YouGov suggested 82 per cent of Britons were in favour.
Morley said: “We need a thorough review of alternative models for running our water infrastructure. No amount of dry weather can disguise the fact that this system is failing people, rivers, and our seas.”
The final incident figures for 2025 may shift slightly when they are published by the EA this year, as some may be contested by water companies.
Rob Forrester, a campaigner and former whistleblower at the EA, said: “The results confirm that the water companies are beyond regulation and that the EA is accepting of the situation.”
Defra said: “After years of failure, this government has taken swift action to hold water companies to account. We are ending the era of water company self-monitoring, introducing new MoT-style checks on water company assets and bringing in ‘no-notice’ inspections to help clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.”
The EA said that this year Thames Water will be sentenced in relation to 18 discharges of raw sewage from its sites between 2017 and 2023.
Thames Water said: “We take our responsibilities to the environment and our customers extremely seriously. This is why we launched our biggest upgrade in over 150 years, investing billions of pounds, to improve the resilience of our assets and modernise our network.”
It said that it provides “an essential service for almost a quarter of the UK population, and on a relative basis our pollution record is in line with other water companies”. However, while Thames serves about twice the number of people as Severn Trent it caused eight times as many serious pollution incidents.
A spokesman for the industry body Water UK said: “While this data is provisional, the number of pollution incidents remains too high. Water companies are investing a record £104 billion to secure our water supplies, end sewage entering our rivers and seas and support economic growth.”