NEWS RELEASE
Date: 22 March 2007
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New tunnel to give London a 21st century river Thames
An unprecedented project to clean up the Thames and make it fit for the 21 st century was today announced by Environment Minister Ian Pearson.
A single 30km long tunnel is planned to intercept sewage and rain water discharges along the length of the river and transport the waste water for treatment in East London. It would be the largest such project ever undertaken in this count ry.
London's current sewer network, which was built by Joseph Bazalgette in the second half of the 19 th century, was hailed as a major engineering achievement in its day and collects sewage and rainwater runoff together.
Today, with the climate changing and the city expanding, the system is under pressure and 52 million cubic metres of untreated sewage and rainwater pollute the Rivers Thames and Lee each year - enough to fill the Albert Hall about 525 times. Of this, 32 million cubic metres comes from sewer network overflows, which provide the only safety valve to prevent the overloaded system from backing up and flooding homes and streets.
The discharges kill fish, create a higher health hazard for users of the river and damage the aesthetic appeal of the Thames, reducing its attractiveness to tourists.
Commenting on the project, which is estimated to cost at least £2bn, Ian Pearson said:
"I think most Londoners would be shocked to hear that, because of an historic but increasingly outdated sewer network, a huge amount of untreated sewage and rainwater is spilling into the Thames at least once a week. This is unacceptable.
"This tunnel is the right solution for London and for the environment. It will give us a 21 st century River Thames that we can all be proud of."
Today's announcement follows six years of detailed work by a range of specialists. In particular, the reports by the Thames Tideway Strategic Study, the independent review by consultants Jacobs Ba bt ie, and the reports recently completed by Thames Water have been instrumental in helping determine the solution. All recommended a major tunnel under the Thames.
The project is expected to be delivered by 2019/20. T he economic regulator Ofwat will be tasked with ensuring that it is delivered cost effectively. It is estimated that it will add around £37 to Thames Water sewerage bills by 2017.
Work will now go ahead on further detailed design, planning and funding.
Ian Pearson added:
"We haven't reached this decision in a vacuum. A wide range of players have been instrumental in getting us to this point and I thank them all.
"Of course this is only the beginning of a long and challenging project and I have every confidence that this co-operation will provide a solid foundation as we now work towards delivering the new tunnel for London.
"This will inevitably mean some extra costs for customers, but it will deliver tangible benefits for London in the long-term."
In addition to improving the environmental quality of the Thames, the scheme will also help meet European obligations on sewage treatment.
Notes to editors
1. The London sewer system combines foul sewers with the system for collecting rainwater run-off. When the system becomes overloaded from rainfall, overflows of sewage and rainwater discharge some of the excess into the River Lee and Thames to reduce the risk of sewer flooding of properties, and the overloading of London's sewage treatment works.
2. The Thames Tideway Strategic Study was set up in 2000 to assess the environmental impact of sewage overflows, to identify objectives for improvement, and to propose potential solutions. The steering group included Thames Water (the sewerage service provider), the Environment Agency (the environmental regulator), Defra, the Greater London Authority, and with observer status Ofwat, the economic regulator of the water industry.
3. The other shortlisted option that was considered was to build two separate shorter tunnels in West and East London to intercept overflow discharges along these stretches of the river, and treatment in East London. The single tunnel and side link to Abbey Mills Pumping Station was chosen because it provides the opportunity for phased construction which will deliver results more quickly, and will help meet the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive .
4. Copies of the Thames Water's detailed report on the two shortlisted options and the Thames Tideway Strategic Study reports are available at www.thameswater.co.uk. The Jacobs Babtie report is available at www.ofwat.gov.uk.
5. Action is being taken on a number of fronts now, and will continue, to reduce the impact of storm discharges on the Rivers Thames and Lee:
• Investment by Thames Water between 2005 and 2010 will significantly improve the treatment provided during wet weather at Beckton, Crossness, Mogden, Long Reach and Riverside sewage treatment works. This will increase the volume of sewage to receive secondary treatment (the normal standard) before discharge and so reduce the frequency and impact of weather-induced sewage overflows from those works.
• Mobile oxygenation vessels operated by Thames Water, and deployed at the Environment Agency's request, will continue to be used along with three land based hydrogen peroxide dosing plants at strategic locations, to protect fish species by re-oxygenating stretches of the river following significant sewage overflow discharges.
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