ENVIRONMENT AGENCY FINDS THAMES WATER IN BREACH OF SEWAGE CONTROL PERMIT
The Environment Agency has found Thames Water’s Hogsmill Sewage Treatment Works in breach of its environmental permit on four counts, including a significant shortfall in storm sewage storage.
The site sits around 5km upstream of the Thames at Ham and Kingston — recently designated as London’s first official bathing water site on the river.
The EA found that improvement works intended to increase storm storage, originally due to be completed in March 2025, are now not expected to finish until 2028.
The breach has been highlighted today by the local campaigning group SOLAR (Save Our Lands and River) which has launched a petition.
Campaign leader Ian MacNuff For SOLAR, said the findings underline exactly why standards for sewage infrastructure need to improve.
Mr MacNuff said: “Hogsmill’s upgrade has already slipped by years, at a site just upstream of a heavily used recreational stretch of the Thames and London’s first official river bathing site.
“We need sewage infrastructure that is capable of meeting the pressures our rivers face today and in the future. Higher standards are essential if we are serious about protecting public health and our natural waters.”
More than 38,000 people have now signed SOLAR’s Parliamentary petition calling for higher standards for new and upgraded sewage treatment infrastructure.
100,000 signatures are needed for the petition to be considered for a debate in Parliament.