London Super Sewer already improving the River Thames

Last month, Tideway – London’s new Super Sewer – captured 850,000 tonnes of sewage following 24 hours of heavy rain – even though it is not fully operational until next year. 

It has been extremely wet recently. In fact, according to the Met Office, ten English counties saw their wettest September on record. Tideway is a great example of the investment we urgently need to expand the capacity of our sewers.  

Tideway is an amazing feat of engineering and the 25km long tunnel is already helping to protect the River Thames from sewage spills. By intercepting storm overflows along the Thames, Tideway will dramatically improve the water quality and biodiversity of the river. 

The tunnel traces the river from west to east and is up to seventy metres below the surface of the river. In total Tideway has a storage capacity equivalent to around 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools.  

Tideway will be fully operational from next year and, when it is, it will reduce the amount of storm overflows into the river by 95%. 

Water companies in England and Wales are waiting for the economic regulator Ofwat to make a final decision on the largest-ever proposed investment in the sector.  

Companies want to invest more than £11 billion between now and the end of the decade to upgrade our sewers and end sewage entering our rivers and seas. If approved in full by Ofwat, this will triple current levels of investment and cut sewage spills in England by 40% by 2030. Thousands of huge storm tanks would be built and nature-based solutions like wetlands created to stop rainwater from overloading our sewers.

The public rightly wants to see the health of our rivers and seas improved and we are ready to play our part. Tideway is an example of what can be achieved with significant investment. On the 19th December we urge Ofwat to give us the green light so that we can bring about the change that we all want to see.