THAMES SEWAGE PUMP CAMPAIGNERS INVITE WATER MINISTER TO TEDDINGTON
The lead organiser of the SOLAR (Save Our Lands and River) campaign has invited the new Water Minister Emma Hardy to Teddington following the decision to designate a specific area for river swimming.
Ms Hardy MP is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State of Water and Flooding and publicly welcomed the news about the first Thames swimming area last week.
The letter has been written by SOLAR founder and former Olympic rower, Ian McNuff, who lives in Teddington and has been a leading campaigner to stop the so-called Thames Sewage Pump.
The letter says:
Re: Thames Water’s Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) scheme
“Your two recent announcements have exposed fundamental flaws in Thames Water’s proposed scheme that make stopping it more urgent than ever.
“On 3 February, you announced the first plan to protect against PFAS ‘forever chemicals’, stating that ‘acting now is essential to prevent irreversible harm.’
“On 13 February, you designated Kingston and Ham as London’s new bathing water site, recognising ‘the prise in places that matter most to people.’
“These decisions reveal two critical conflicts:
“Location absurdity: Of 692,000 metres of Thames riverbank, Thames Water somehow selected a site directly adjacent to London’s new bathing location.
“When families visit, they’ll picnic on the very green space Thames Water plans to board up as a building site for years.
“The scheme will then pump treated sewage on average for 45 days each summer—exactly when thousands will be swimming and gathering there.
“Their ‘Best Value’ model, already criticised by Sir Jon Cunliffe, clearly doesn’t account for this.
“PFAS failure: Thames Water’s published treatment levels won’t address PFAS contamination.
“A scheme going live in 7 years and operating for 80 more is being designed to yesterday’s standards.
“They promised to publish pilot treatment results many times —they haven’t.
“Their Gate 3 submission to RAPID shows treatment based on the current Hogsmill sewage works permit, which doesn’t cover PFAS. This guarantees a costly retrofit in 10 years, with the public paying twice for a scheme that’s inadequate now.
“One final reality check: the scheme operates on average 45 days annually, producing 3.2 billion litres if problem-free.
“In the first 45 days of 2026, 300 times that volume has already flowed over Teddington Weir and has been washed out to sea.
“Our invitation for you to visit Teddington stands.
“We’d value the chance to show you this emerging problem firsthand and understand how these policies align with approving this scheme.
Yours sincerely,
Ian McNuff
Founder member, Save Our Lands and River
CC Munira Wilson MP , Sarah Olney MP , Cllr Gareth Roberts, Cllr Julia Neden-Watts
In a separate response to the news of the proposed bathing spot local Lib Dem MP Munira Wilson said: “I am absolutely delighted that the River Thames at Ham and Kingston is being considered as one the first-ever designated bathing spots in London, because everyone deserves to swim, paddle and row in clean, healthy water.”
“With the Government acknowledging the need to improve water quality, I hope they will also heed my and campaigners’ calls to scrap Thames Water’s proposals to pump treated effluent into the river Thames at Teddington – plans that are fundamentally incompatible with improving water quality along our precious stretch of the River Thames.”