Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK, is working on a system to warn the public about sewage discharges into surface waters in real time, informs the BBC.
The move comes after Thames Water was fined £2.3 million (€2.7 million) for a discharge of partially treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant that polluted a stream at Henley-on-Thames in 2016. The company was found negligent, as it failed to address faulty equipment. It was one more in a series of water pollution incidents, which since 2017 have resulted in £24.4 million (€28.5 million) in fines for Thames Water.
“The Environment Agency’s enforcement action over several years and the pressure it has put on water companies has led to £30 billion of investment by the industry in water quality”, said EA officer Jackie Outhwaite, adding that “the damage caused to the environment at Henley, however, shows water companies have a lot more to do to protect the environment.” Last September, the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) set up a taskforce to tackle the issue of untreated sewage discharges into water bodies after heavy rainfall via combined sewer overflows (CSOs). Although it is a legal practice in the UK, CSO spill data show they may be more frequent than they should.
The Oxford City Council would like to create a “designated bathing” area in a stretch of the River Thames as it passes through Oxford, and has asked for water quality data to be publicly available. Thames Water has been working with the End Sewage Pollution group to implement the systems to collect data in several waterways. In addition, water quality in the Thames as it goes though Oxfordshire will be analysed.
Next April the new system should be operational in six sites in Oxfordshire, according to the water utility. Residents in the area and river users will be able to receive the information in real time right in their email inbox. Thames Water said "discharges of untreated sewage are simply unacceptable, even when they are legally permitted" and pledged to "accelerate work to stop them being necessary".
