A REDUCTION IN SHAFTS BUT SERIOUS QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED

The October 2024 round of community events from Thames Water is an attempt to show how the removal of a number of shafts now means that they had listened to the key concerns and have a scheme which should be supportable.

As SOLAR this attempted slight of hand fails to address many of our longstanding questions and now raises new concerns, including the points below

If much of the treated effluent is now bound for the river at Isleworth why a much bigger tunnel to the river at Teddington? – thin end of the wedge for bigger future abstraction?

Contaminants into the river: Thames Water cannot say what the environmental impact will be – they should prove the antibiotics, hormones, microplastics, forever chemicals etc will do no harm first – before being allowed to pump it into the River Thames

There is still no evidence the proposal meets the requirements/challenges raised by the Environment Agency earlier this year – what does this say about EA concerns about harm to biodiversity and the water ecosphere?

There remains better and more sustainable alternatives with lower risks – why no evidence they get serious consideration?

The water quality threats from pumped treated effluent at Teddington seriously challenge the wide range of recreational usage on and in this, the most used recreational, stretch of the Thames. HOw does this align with London’s mayor Sadiq Kahn who recently vowed to make the  Teddington one of his new open water swimming spots. 

Much local feedback indicates very low trust in TW’s intentions for TDRA. Its performance in river quality management is not well respected. There is little confidence that TDRA is the best option for increasing water supply 

What are the new costings for the proposal? In their current desperate financial condition borrowing costs will be extremely high and must challenge any good value for money TW have persistently failed/refused to show SOLAR the evidence that TDRA is genuinely and reliably their “best value” option.

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