One Thames Water overflow in leafy Surrey has been leaking sewage for six days straight
A storm overflow in Surrey operated by Thames Water has been discharging sewage continuously for 145 hours – more than six days straight.
According to the embattled water provider’s own interactive map, the Esher storm overflow that flows into the nearby River Mole began discharging at 7:15 on 29th February and hasn’t stopped since.
“Our monitor indicates this storm overflow is currently discharging and this means there could be sewage in this section of the watercourse,” the firm’s map says.
On the other side of Heathrow around 26 miles from the Esher storm drain, the Gerrard’s Cross drain, leading into the River Misbourne, has been leaking continuously for 430 hours and another ten miles up the road, the Chesham stormflow has been leaking sewage for 145 hours.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We regard any untreated discharges as unacceptable, and we’re committed to stopping them from being necessary.
“Storm overflows are designed to operate automatically when the sewer network is about to be overwhelmed which then releases diluted wastewater into rivers, rather than letting it back up into people’s homes.
“We are working hard to make these discharges unnecessary and have published plans to upgrade over 250 of our sewage treatment works and sewers to treat the high volumes of incoming sewage and reduce the need for overflows during wet weather, including plans to upgrade our Esher and Gerrards Cross sites.”
Today’s leakages follow an overflow in Fairford, Gloucestershire, that discharged sewage into the River Coln for over 900 hours in December.
Last week, Thames Water refused to be drawn on a bombshell report that it is lobbying both the government and regulator to avoid a bailout, with customers footing the bill.
In the company’s industry-mandated service commitment , revealed last month, it confirmed that leakages for this year would likely increase from 550m litres a day to 585m and between 512m and 530m litres next year – up from the 507m previously forecast.
Amongst the littany of operational issues facing the provider, one of its most senior figures, Sir Adrian Montague resigned as chairman and director of Kemble, Thames Water Utilities Limited’s parent firm, at the end of February.