[44] In awarding the fine, Judge Francis Sheridan noted the company's "continual failure to report incidents" and "history of non-compliance", saying: "This is a shocking and disgraceful state of affairs. Plan your day ahead or read the day's London headlines with our daily emails. Thames Water Utilities Ltd, known as Thames Water, is the monopoly private utility company responsible for the public water supply and waste water treatment in large parts of Greater London, Luton, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Kent, and some other areas of the United Kingdom. 12/06/2019. dataLayer.push({'pageTags': ["water treatment","dosing","Thames Water","Drinking Water Inspectorate"]}); Sign up today for your daily news alert and weekly roundup. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom, behind the River Severn. However, hard water can lead to scale forming and may also affect the appearance of hot drinks, increase soap consumption and reduce detergent efficiency. Thames Water takes over 500,000 water samples each year, and puts them through a large number of tests to ensure supplies are safe to drink. For this reason, Thames Water advises against swimming in the Thames Tideway[65] and, by extension, walking in the tidal strand area. This uses a chalk aquifer beneath Enfield, Haringey and the Lee Valley, to top up treated water when rainfall is plentiful and to use as a back-up resource to boost supplies during droughts. [56], In July 2019, Thames Water was fined £607,000 for polluting the Maidenhead Ditch and the River Cut in Berkshire. The incident occurred at its Coppermill Water Treatment Works in Walthamstow, London E17 in April 2010 when an excavator reversed over and killed the worker in a slow sand filter. [48], On 5–8 June 2011, more than 230,000 cubic metres (8.1 million cubic feet), or 230,000 tonnes, of sewage were released from Mogden Sewage Treatment works, killing 26,000 fish. Company number: 02366661. This was deliberately done and gave a false impression of the sewage treatment works’ performance and undermined the operator’s self-monitoring process. If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you. [24], As of 2014[update], Thames Water provides the second cheapest residential water and sewerage charges of all the combined Water and Sewerage companies. News / This flooding was exacerbated by a two-day delay by Surrey County Council's 'Gold Control' flood control group in ordering Thames Water to close a sluice gate on a Thames Water aqueduct. Each year, on average, there are 50–60 such incidents and a total of 39 million cubic metres (1.4 billion cubic feet), or 39 million tonnes, is released. ALS offers a full-service drinking water testing services at laboratories throughout the world. Under northeast London lies Britain’s only artificially-recharged aquifer used for public water supply: the North London Artificial Recharge Scheme (NLARS). Hard water is found in areas that have a chalk and limestone geology; water picks up chalk carbonates as it passes through. [13] The name of the company reflects its role providing water to the drainage basin of the River Thames and not the source of its water, which is taken from a range of rivers and boreholes. Despite this pollution, large marine mammals are increasingly found in the Thames Tideway and Estuary, indicating some level of year-on-year improvement [66][67][68], To mitigate and resolve the above problems, the Thames Tideway Scheme proposed a three-stage series of improvements. The Thames Conservancy was established in 1857 with unified control over water supply, drainage and navigation. Over centuries of London's growth from medieval times to the Victorian age, the natural tributary system of the Thames Tideway was converted first into public open sewers and then closed over into covered sewers which emptied directly into the River Thames. Even a public utility like Thames Water, which supplies drinking water to 9 million Londoners and handles waste water for 15 million, set up a "digital and innovation technology" team six months ago to help it modernize and adapt to change. Former Pop Idol star Darius Campbell was hospitalised after drinking water from the Thames to promote a water filter for a charity. The company became listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Most Read. [2] This level of investment has allowed the company to defer, but not avoid, substantial portions of its corporation tax liability in line with UK tax law.[26]. Thames Water fined for drinking water offences. Thames Water is the UK's largest water and wastewater services company, and supplies 2.6 billion litres (570 million imperial gallons) of drinking water per day, and treats 4.4 billion litres (970 million imperial gallons) of wastewater per day. [60], Thames Water maintains commercial flocks of sheep on the borders of several of its reservoirs, which are used as the cheapest way to stop large plants growing and damaging the banks.[61]. [4] Together, these are expected to result in an annual discharge reduction of 40%. Marcus Rink, Chief Inspector of Drinking Water, said: “Whilst these events did not result in impact or harm to any consumers, Coppermills water treatment works suffered loss of control of key treatment processes on two occasions in 2017. Thames Water is the UK's largest water and wastewater services company,[1] and supplies 2.6 billion litres (570 million imperial gallons) of drinking water per day, and treats 4.4 billion litres (970 million imperial gallons) of wastewater per day. Let us check other impressive facts about Thames Water below: Facts about Thames Water 1: the amount of drinking water The pumps were replaced by improved pumps. In February 2014, the River Ash caused flooding in homes in Staines-upon-Thames. © 2020 Londonist, All rights reserved. This is equivalent to a reduction of 16 million cubic metres (570 million cubic feet) or 16 million tonnes per year, down to about 23 million cubic metres (810 million cubic feet) or 23 million tonnes of effluent per year. No. In 2017, under the government's Open Water programme, and in common with all water and sewerage companies,[23] Thames Water must provide entirely separate retail and wholesale operations for its commercial customers, working through a central market operator. That's why your flat white might look a bit weird then. During the 1850s, Dr John Snow and William Farr's identification of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak provided a stimulus to the better treatment of sewage. [62] Joseph Bazalgette's remediation of the ensuing 1850s Great Stink renewed much of London's sewerage mains infrastructure during the period 1859 to 1865. video. Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority, Upper Thames River Conservation Authority, Thames-Sydenham and Region Annual Progress Report – 2019, Notice of Updates under S.51(1) of the Clean Water Act. The £270m plant is the first of its kind in Britain and will turn a mixture of sea and river water into safe drinking water. We carry out over half a million quality tests each year to make sure your water is the highest quality. Registered Office: Clearwater Court, Vastern Road, Reading RG1 8DB. In May 2006 the leakage was nearly 900 million litres (200 million imperial gallons) per day and in June that year Thames Water missed its target for leakage reduction for the third year in a row. supports HTML5 No other reproduction or distribution is permitted without prior written consent. That was the silver lining,’ Darius quipped. [27] On 1 October 2011, it adopted 40,000 km (25,000 mi) - an additional 60% - of private sewers and lateral drains to add to its then stock of 68,000 km (42,000 mi) giving a new network of 108,000 km (67,000 mi). [49], Between 14 and 16 August 2011, Thames Water polluted the Faringdon Stream, in Faringdon, Oxfordshire.