Less than four years since we started putting pressure on Thames Water to publish real-time sewer spill alerts they have agreed to do it by the end of 2022. Thank you to everyone that demanded action and pushed for greater accountability!
Thames Water’s Chief Executive told the Environmental Audit Committee this was their intention and we have since had it in writing from the company. They say “we have committed to providing real-time notifications of discharges at all our 468 EDM sites by the end of next year.”
We will give them this time, but the clock is ticking. If they have not met their deadline we will start legal action. We will also make sure that the information is published in a way that complies with the Environmental Information Regulations.
The map shows Seattle’s live sewer overflow alerts.
The newly passed Environment Act contains a requirement for water companies to publish information within an hour of a discharge. Echoing the EIRs it says the information must “be in a form which allows the public readily to understand it, and be published in a way which makes it readily accessible to the public.” This is fundamental. Once the information is online the power dynamic changes. We will know for the first time how well the infrastructure in and around London is coping. No longer will it be hidden from public view. This will drive investment. We will make sure that we harness the power of real-time data.
The Environment Act 2021
The wide-ranging suite of laws that went to and fro between the Commons and the Lords is now on the statute book. With our departure from the European Union we needed new legislation to make sure there are no gaps. There are also plenty of environmental problems that have arisen in recent years, but weren’t adequately reflected in our laws. The Act has lots of targets and aspirations but their implementation will be the true test.
Last week thousands of people asked their MPs to vote for strong laws. We also wanted an Office for Environmental Protection to hold the Government of the day and public bodies to account. We will see in the coming years if it is independent enough or if Government guidance sways the cases it takes on.
Many of you contacted your MP to call for the the Duke of Wellington’s amendment to stop sewer overflows, instead a requirement to reduce their impact over time made it into law. The line from Defra was that some people were saying the Government amendment would increase sewer spills. We never said that. Our argument was that the prohibition on sewer overflows from the European Court ruling was being wiped away and replaced with weaker wording.
Of course rivers have been polluted for years despite the 2012 ruling.
As a society we have lost grip on river protection by replacing prosecution with ‘Enforcement Undertakings’, allowing water companies to self-monitor discharges and cuts to the Environment Agency.
Enforcement Undertakings are a troubling development which sees law breakers escape prosecution and pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to environmental charities instead. In some cases these payments make up more than half of their income.
Will we see improvements? Only if people continue to champion their rivers, challenge conflicts of interest, and secure greater transparency.
The State of the Thames from the Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London has just published a comprehensive report ‘The State of the Thames 2021’.
It gives a good overview of the condition of our iconic river. Much of the media coverage focused on sharks in the estuary. Many of you will have seen reports of seal sightings. While the report features the Thames Tideway Tunnel it needs to be remembered it makes no difference to the river currently. It won’t be operational until 2025.
The reason for improvements in water quality is the upgrades to five tidal Thames sewage works from 2011-16. This increased capacity and treatment (cost £600m). Also of significance was the construction of the Lee Tunnel (another £600m). This released a pressure point at Abbey Mills sewage pumping station. It is here that a series of large Bazalgette sewers converge. This is the Abbey Mills Combined Sewer Overflow that discharges to the Lea when the sewers are overwhelmed by rain (This map shows the convergence, with a better one here (but Abbey Mills is unnamed)). There is another pinch point on the south bank, at Deptford Pumping Station (which will be intercepted by the Tideway Tunnel).
Abbey Mills CSO accounted for 40% of all sewer overflows to the tidal Thames. When the Lee Tunnel was completed in 2016 the number of spills fell by 90%, from 36 a year to 3.
The case for the Tideway Tunnel was made claiming that population increase was the reason why the Victorian sewers couldn’t cope. But the population of Inner London now is smaller, by about a million since the late 1800s. The main reason that these sewers can’t cope when it rains is because we have paved over so much of the city with non-porous materials. Victorian London allowed rain to soak away. Today’s Inner London funnels rain into sewers as fast as it can.
The £4 billion spent on one tunnel could have been spread across the city, creating thousands of raingardens, holding basins and pocket parks. This would have cut local flood risk, reduced urban heating and eased the pressure on sewers. It would have made the city more climate change resilient.
The upgrades to infrastructure improved water quality – we haven’t seen large fish kills like 2004 and 2011. Rather than the Tideway Tunnel we should have taken a hybrid approach, like Portland, Oregon. Their improvement works finished ten years ago. Green drainage stops 35% of rain getting to the sewers. Large pipes deal with the rest of the overflows. London is far behind in terms of large-scale innovation. Other cities, like Philadelphia are using green drainage to tackle all stormwater overflows (after Hurricane Ida some grey infrastructure is being built to make it more resilient to climate change).
The Environment Act 2021 aims to reduce sewer overflows. We need to make sure that we take a more enlightened approach. One that avoids concrete-heavy engineering but instead works with nature.