The law says Thames Water should tell us when it pollutes our rivers. We’ve started the legal process to make this happen. This is the letter of complaint we have send to Thames Water. If they don’t agree to put sewage overflow alerts online and in real-time we will need to increase the pressure. By filling in your details below you will agree to be on standby, ready to help overwhelm Thames Water’s information department, until they change their mind.
We have a right to know the health of our rivers. Part of this is being told when they are polluted. Currently very little of this information is publicly available. Rivers are used by people for rowing, kayaking, paddle boarding and swimming but they don’t know when they risk coming into contact with sewage.
London Waterkeeper wants people to be told when sewage works and Combined Sewer Overflows discharge to rivers across the region, from the Cotswolds to the Capital. We have started the legal process to make Thames Water do this. If they refuse we ask people to send our legal request to them, which will overwhelm their systems. The end result will be that it’s easier to put the information online voluntarily.
Thames Water is subject to the Environmental Information Regulations (2004). This law says that bodies like Thames Water shall make the environmental information it holds progressively available to the public by electronic means which are easily accessible and organise the information with a view to its active and systematic dissemination.
When we’re told how often sewers overflow we’ll know the true state of the river. In some stretches Thames Water doesn’t know when it happens but that’s important too. If we have easily accessible information we will be able to see where greater investment is needed to protect the river..
Thames Water must put the information on its website, in real-time. In the 21st Century this is what we expect. Currently it sends out emails about just a handful of overflows. That’s not good enough.