Thames21’s response to news of raw sewage from new-build homes in Harrow and beyond polluting London rivers amid regulatory failures

Thames21 has issued a response to the latest news that sewage from some new-build developments in North and West London is being flushed directly into the River Brent and River Crane due to apparent blunders during construction.

Recent media reports have revealed that seven housing developments in North and West London, amounting to at least 81 homes but likely over 100, are known to be flushing sewage directly into rivers that flow into tributaries of the River Thames, an Environmental Information Request (EIR) by environmental charity Friends of the River Crane (FORCE) has found. The EIR was submitted to Thames Water.

Thames Water, the Environment Agency and local councils do not appear to be taking responsibility to fix the problem despite the owner/developer being aware of the sewerage misconnection problem for years, according to FORCE’s report.

Misconnections occur when someone inadvertently connects a household waste pipe (from a washing machine, dishwasher, sink or toilet) to a surface water drain rather than a foul drain – so effluent that should go to a sewage works for treatment actually goes directly to the river instead.

Chris Coode, CEO at Thames2, said: “Misconnection cases are having a devastating impact on the River Thames and its tributaries. We are astounded by this regulatory failure. The law is one of our strongest tools, so it is time for local authorities to use building enforcement powers to ensure developers connect the right pipes to the right places. It is also time for the Environment Agency to have the resources to enforce the law against polluters.

“Water companies have the powers to resolve these issues but are not willing to use them as they are not able to claim the costs back after investing in fixing the problem.

“We look forward to significant improvements in the legislation protecting our water environment soon after the Government completes its current review of the sector.

“In relation to this North and West London misconnection case and other potential cases, Thames Water could fund local authorities or the Greater London Authority to resolve these issues to get the ball rolling. If local authorities receive funds from the developers via building enforcement action, they could potentially give these funds back to the water companies.

“This is likely to be happening across London. So, Thames21 has submitted an EIR on behalf of River Partnerships in London (RiPL) members across all 11 operational river catchments in the Greater London Authority region to identify any known housing blocks or equivalent large-scale misconnection-based pollution sources in their catchments.

“Thames21 is also developing cross-partner solutions to these problems through our network of catchment partnership groups.

“All in all, Thames21 believes that no single tool will fix this problematic issue of misconnections, so we advocate for multi-stakeholder action. This issue has been traditionally difficult to fix because it can be very hard to identify the source, particularly in urban areas. Therefore, we need policymakers, developers, local councils, water companies and the general public on board to tackle this problem.”