Thames Water: Feargal Sharkey promises to donate £1k to charity if CEO of debt-riddled water firm drinks glass of water from UK river

Sharkey has vowed to donated £1k to charity if the CEO of the debt-riddled water firm agrees to drink a glass of water from the river in West London. Last month, it was reported that misconnected pipes were causing raw sewage to be dumped into the River Brent from at least 100 homes.

Testing conducted on the river by LBC, alongside the volunteer group ‘Clean Up the River Brent’, revealed a number of environmental red flags following years of sewage pollution by Thames Water. The nitrate test - a key indicator of pollution in a river - generated a reading of ​​15 parts per million. That is three times above the threshold of what is deemed ‘excessive’ by the Water Quality Monitoring Network.

Testing carried out by Simplex Health on behalf of LBC also showed the presence of E Coli in the River Brent was over 10 times the level at which the Environment Agency (EA) considers a river to be “poor quality bathing water”. E Coli can cause diarrhoea, severe stomach cramps, vomiting and can be deadly in extreme cases.

Sharkey called on the firm to “live up to your own words” in response to the claim by many water companies that say the rivers they are responsible for are 95 per cent rainwater. Chris Weston is the current boss of Thames Water who was hired in January and was awarded a bonus of £195,000 for his first three months at the company.

He took home a huge pay packet despite Thames Water seeing a 40% increase in pollution incidents in the six months to September 30. Mr Weston blamed a particularly wet spring and summer period, and said that problems with Thames Water’s infrastructure were “decades in the making”.

He added: “The infrastructure was designed to operate in the way that it operates. It is going to require decades to fix it, to change the way that it operates, and a significant amount of money.”

The company is also in about £16 billion of debt, and is trying to secure another £3 billion to keep it running beyond mid-next year. It faces a crunch decision from regulators next week, as they decide whether to allow a proposed 59% increase in bills over the next five years versus current levels.

Bosses have argued they need the extra money to make Thames Water “investible” enough to attract the funding, and to pay for improvements to its network of pipes and sewers. On Tuesday (10 December), Mr Weston said regulator Ofwat “must recognise” the fundraising when it makes its final decision on December 19. He said: “We need a regulatory settlement that recognises the reality and individuality of our business.”

In response to LBC’s investigation, a Thames Water spokesperson said: "The health of rivers is affected by many factors and everyone has a critical role to play. We have identified seven buildings in the Brent and Crane area which are misconnected, and have made those responsible aware to ensure all wastewater is taken to our sewage works where it can be safely treated.

"Households and buildings which are connected to the wrong drainage pipe can have a serious impact on the environment. Most misconnections will have been done entirely by accident but it is the responsibility of the property owner, which is why we would urge freeholders or developers fitting new connections to make sure they’re plumbed in properly.”

The spokesperson added: "We know how much people enjoy and appreciate rivers, and we are committed to seeing waterways thrive, but we can’t do it alone. Farming, industry, road runoff, wildlife and increasingly extreme weather also play a role in river health.

"While all storm discharges are unacceptable, the sewage system was historically designed to work in this way, to prevent sewage backing up into people’s homes. As our infrastructure ages, and our population grows, more investment will be required. Thames Water has a clear and achievable plan to upgrade 250 of our facilities across the region to ensure we play our part.”