Thames Water has outlined plans to transfer water out of Teddington Lock in the UK and replace it with treated sewage water.
The company has put forward this “water recycling” plan to cope with shortages because of the rising population around the capital London and predicted droughts in the future.
Thames Water wants to remove 150 million litres of water a day from the Thames above Teddington lock in south-west London and transfer it by a pipeline to reservoirs in the Lee Valley in east London.
A report on the Thames Water website reads: “This scheme will help keep the River Thames flowing and can be introduced within eight years, helping us achieve resilience to a one in 200 year drought event by 2031.
“There are other schemes that we could deliver within eight years, such as a water recycling scheme in Beckton, East London, but these are all more expensive.”
The river water will be replaced by treated wastewater from Mogden, one of the biggest sewage plants in the UK, but Thames Water explained that this water would be “highly treated”.
The water company has also announced it has begun work on a £100million upgrade of its Mogden sewage treatment works.
The company said that putting the recycled water into the River Thames above the Teddington Weir will “compensate” the river for the additional abstracted water and protect the environment and wildlife.
It first suggested the plan in 2019, but it was rejected by the Environment Agency because of its impact on the environment.
Thames Water outlines plan to use treated sewage water
