Solving London’s sewage problem: 3,000 fish killed by sewage in the River Crane

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The Angling Trust have described it as “devastating” and “tragic”, while Thames Water admit that it was regrettable. Thames Water issued an apology last week, after it was forced to allow sewage to spill into the River Crane near Twickenham after a sluice gate became jammed and engineers were unable to re-open it. Thames Water, who have acknowledged blame for this major pollution incident, said:

The six-tonne, cast-iron penstock, used for controlling flows, jammed closed on Saturday morning in a trunk sewer at Cranford Bridge on the A4 Bath Road while engineers carried out routine maintenance.

Attempts to re-open the sluice gate were not successful until 8am on Monday, when engineers used a custom-made lifting device to force it open.

With 3,000 fish now dead and an entire seven-mile span of the West London river uninhabitable, it is reckoned that it will be years, not months, before the river returns to its original, thriving state. The Environment Agency (EA) are in the process of carrying out a full investigation, intimating that prosecution may be an outcome. Since then, Thames Water have issued an apology with Chief Executive Martin Baggs pledging that the company is “committed to put things right over the long term.”

Dead fish in the River Crane and its tributary, the Duke's River, London

The EA have been working continuously with Thames Water in an effort to minimise any further environmental damage by taking water samples, as well as monitoring levels of dissolved oxygen and ammonia in the river. Although the pollution has now spread into the River Thames, it is reported as having had little impact.

Swimming the Thames: David Walliams vs. 500,000m3 of raw sewage

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Yesterday evening, comedian David Walliams completed an epic eight-day, 140-mile swim down the River Thames in aid of the 2011 Sport Relief Big Splash Challenge.

If swimming a colossal 140 miles isn’t quite enough, Walliams had to contend with the sewage ridden Thames. On Sunday, Thames Water advised the Little Britain star’s team against allowing Walliams to swim into the centre of London. The reason? Approximately 500,000m3 of raw sewage had been flushed into the river via combined sewer overflows since Monday. Thames Water sustainability director, Richard Aylard, said: “We’re not public health experts but I wouldn’t recommend swimming in it.”

David Walliams swimming the Thames (Flickr:FlickrDelusions)

Each year, about 32,000,000,000m3 of raw sewage overflows into the river Thames. Thames Water plans to invest £4.9 billion to upgrade London’s dated sewage systems from 2010 to 2015. Completed and planned improvements include: