Speaking in Parliament last week on Tuesday 5th December Ruth Cadbury MP used a speech on executive pay in the water industry to criticise Thames Water for their actions on a range of local issues, while also calling for new powers to block executive pay.
In her speech Ruth mentioned the previous scandal where poor maintenance at Mogden Sewage Treatment work meant that the Duke of Northumberland river flooded gardens, homes and local parks with raw sewage locally. Additionally Ruth raised her concerns about the new scheme to extract water from the Thames at Teddington and replace this water with diluted sewage water. Ruth warned this scheme threatens biodiversity in the local environment and urged Thames Water to focus on fixing existing leaks in the system first.
Commenting in full after her speech Ruth said,
‘‘Residents across West London have had to put up with a terrible service from Thames Water for far too long. This has included the smell and mosquitos from Mogden Sewage Treatment Works, the flooding of the Duke of Northumberland river in early 2020 and the continued pumping of dilute sewage into the Thames.
I know from listening to people locally that they are fed up with the lack of action from Thames Water, which comes alongside a continued rise in water bills. The river Thames is the beating heart of our local area and of London, and provides a space not just for animals but also for water activities such as kayaking, rowing and for riverside walks.
I also know how concerned and worried people are about the new plans to take water out of the Thames at Teddington and replace it with diluted sewage. There are serious environmental problems about this scheme and I will be raising this directly with Thames Water on behalf of people locally. I’m especially worried as Thames Water have a poor record on sewage releases locally and have previously released billions of tonnes of dilute sewage into the Thames.
I want to assure people locally that I continue to stand up and campaign to ensure that Thames Water do more to protect our local environment and ensure customers receive a fair service.’’