Three water firms pledge to end sewage spills in River Thames by 2040

Three water companies have promised to end sewage spills in the River Thames by 2040, a decade earlier than the government’s national target.

Thames Water said it will work to stop sewage spills from 61 out of the 118 outfalls along the tidal Thames which runs from Teddington to the North Sea, alongside Anglian Water and Southern Water which has 34 and 23 outfalls respectively.

The effort to clean up the Thames will also receive a boost in 2025 with the opening of Thames Water’s £4 billion supersewer named the Tideway Tunnel.

The plan, known as the Clean Thames Manifesto, was announced by the Port of London Authority (PLA), with the water companies promising to work faster than planned to curb the amount of sewage spilled from storm overflows and do more to strip out pollutants from sewage treatment works.

Jonson Cox, chairman of the PLA and the former chairman of the water regulator Ofwat, told the Times that the aim is to get a “much cleaner river as quickly as possible.”

He added: “We are being ambitious. We’ve pushed the three water companies that discharge to commit to earlier achievements than they might be otherwise required to do.”

Another of the manifesto’s proposals is to work with local authorities and landowners to reduce the amount of litter making its way into the river. Simple measures to prevent this could include ensuring that bins near the foreshore are emptied often and working with packaging groups to reduce waste in the first place.

The PLA said the project is the start of a process that could result in more wildlife returning to the Thames as well as encouraging paddle boarders and rowers to return to the river and enjoy their sports after they have been put off by health concerns.

The new project comes after Thames Water announced it has begun work to replace 70 miles of leaky Victorian pipes across London and the Home Counties.

The company hopes to reduce the amount of leaks by 50% in the capital by 2030, making sure the “infrastructure is fit for the 21st Century".

The £700 million investment is expected to save about 11 Olympic swimming pools worth of water every day.