Thames like open sewer after drains overflow
November 27, 2009 2:11 PM
In Evening Standard
In Evening Standard
The autumn downpours have led to record discharges of untreated sewage into the Thames.
This month more than 9.3million tonnes have flowed into the river, according to the Environment Agency.
Thames Water lets the waste into the river when London's ageing sewers fill with rainwater, threatening to flood streets and homes with raw sewage.
The figures, obtained by the Liberal Democrat group at the London Assembly, show this month's total is higher than any since records began.
Thames Water will open a £1.7billion super-sewer, the Tideway Tunnel, from Hammersmith to Beckton sewage works in 2020.
But Ruth Hatton, of the Thames Regional Rowing Council, said it would not stop discharges from Mogden sewage plant near Teddington: "We've heard from hundreds of rowers and they say it's like rowing on an open sewer."
Peter Finch, chairman of the River Thames Society, said that while they deplored the pollution, it had "been cleaned up immeasurably in the past 20 years".
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