Sewage overflows keeps children out of the River Kennet

Sewage in the Kennet. One of the country’s most beautiful and cherished chalk streams, now suffering from untreated sewage pouring into the river. Pollution from untreated sewage in the River Kennet kept school children out of the water for their safety yesterday.

Action for the River Kennet (ARK) had planned to run a day of river school for pupils from Preshute and Great Bedwyn primary schools, but woke to find untreated sewage pouring into the river at three points in Marlborough and were forced tell children they should not enter the river downstream.

‘It was so disappointing not to be able to show the children the wildlife that lives in the Kennet, ‘ said Anna Forbes, ‘but we can’t invite children into an environment that we know is polluted with untreated human waste.’

Not only was Marlborough Sewage Treatment works spilling, but also the pumping station at Pewsey Road Bridge and the sewer at Stonebridge Lane.  Sewage detritus was clearly visible. The spills were triggered by overnight rainfall.

Charlotte Hitchmough, ARK’s director said: “The sewerage network is not fit for purpose, summer storms are not unusual, and treatment works and sewers should have capacity to manage expected rainfall. Serious investment to upgrade pipes, build sustainable drainage and improve sewage treatment works is needed now to prevent this unnecessary damage to fragile habitats. We need Thames Water to raise its game, and we need the planning authorities to stop allowing development until we are able to deal with the sewage we have, not keep adding to the load.’

Click here to find the Rivers Trust map of sewage pollution. Click on ‘near real time alerts’ to see current status of spills.)

This isn’t new, nor is it unique to this area, Marlborough and the River Kennet. Marlborough.news has been highlighting this problem for some while – see this story from late 2021. This is a national disgrace, the Water Companies have failed to invest in replacement of infrastructure, whilst taking out massive dividends for their shareholders. Even the recent industry announcement ‘we’ll invest £10bn’ was based on us, their clients having to cover the cost of this whilst they continue to rake off the profit.

Note:

Since publication of this piece we have received the following statement from Thames Water:

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Taking action to improve the health of rivers is a key focus for us and we have planned investment in our local sewage treatment works to reduce the need for untreated discharges, including an upgrade at our Marlborough site which is due to complete in 2025.

“We regard all discharge of untreated sewage is unacceptable, and it’s understandable why the public are demanding more from water companies to do better.  

“We recently announced our plans to invest £1.6bn on our sewage treatment works and networks over the next two years and are striving every day to reduce the discharge of untreated sewage into our rivers. This will help us to deliver our commitment to a 50% reduction in the total annual duration of discharges across London and the Thames Valley by 2030, and within that an 80% reduction in sensitive catchments.

“At the beginning of the year we published an online map providing close to real-time information about storm discharges from all of our 468 permitted locations and this continues to be updated with information on improvements being planned for more than 250 sites across our region.

“Stopping discharges altogether will take time and sustained investment, however each step we take on this journey is a move in the right direction.”