The River water Intake
The above image is from the Thames Waters changes introduced in 2026. It gives some idea of how much work will happen at the site and also how much the character of the site will change.
The new river water intake structure will be built on the riverside towpath on Burnell open space upstream of Teddington Weir. The intake structure will be approximately 30m wide and several metres in height above normal water level. The structure could be set into the riverbank by about 9.5m and extend into the river by up to 3m. Thames Water indicates a construction timeline for the Burnell site of 4 years.
A shaft will be made in Burnell Open space to link to anew tunnel to carry the abstracted water to the existing Thames Lee Tunnel (TLT). A large excavation will be needed for the pumps (at least 3) that will move the water to the TLT.
20 access hatches will be placed around the open space play area.
Thames Water now includes a 10m x 7m control building with a 1.5m path on 3 sides on Burnell Open space to house mechanical and electrical items.
The construction compound at Burnell Open Space will take up to half if not more of the area resulting in disruption to the thousands of people that use the towpath and open space regularly.
There will be a period of several months when there will be works in Park Gate woods for utility changes as part of the project. This means working near protected trees and badger setts.
In a drought millions of litres of water would be taken from the river. In periods of drought, the river will be at its most stressed, and the possibility of ecological harm is ever present.
![REALITY]](http://saveourlandsandriver.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/REALITY.png "REALITY]")
At the statutory consultation Thames Water presented “indicative designs” of what the new abstraction and riverside area would look like at Burnell Riverside Open Space. There were no details of the height of fences, no details of the size or design of the large kiosk, no details of materials to be used – but despite the absence of details there were assurances that the end result would be a positive addition to the Thames Riverside.
With that in mind look at the images above; first, Thames Waters impression of the TDRA abstraction; second, a Severn Trent impression of a new abstraction they recently built. (Note how similar the indicative designs are!).
Then look at the final two images. Those show the reality of the Severn Trent construction. It is not the lovely result that was promised. Note the many elements – fences, shaft covers, very large kiosk, unrecovered vegetation, that were not obvious in the “impression”. Can we really believe that Thames Waters TDRA abstraction will be any better? Thames Water’s TDRA design visuals are like a fairy tale, except one where beautiful swan is turned into an ugly duckling.
The TDRA Kiosk.
Thames Water mention a Kiosk for the first time in the statutory consultation. In the 2025 statutory consultation the “kiosk” (to house intake and outfall’s control and other equipment) was to be approximately 5.5m by 5m.
In the 2026 proposals the Kiosk has become a Control Building, increasing in size to around 7m by 10m, with a flat roof. In addition, there would be a path roughly 1.2m wide around three sides of the building.
In 2025 the building was to be screened by trees as much as possible. Given the much larger size of the new building and that many of the trees will be razed in the construction phase, this seems an optimistic notion. It is not known yet if there will be a separate building for the bio-bullet dispenser. A bio-bullet dispenser is used to control invasive mussels, (to stop them fouling the pipes). It was mentioned in 2025 but there is no update on it. There is no mention of security measures for the control building nor how often it would be visited for maintenance.
The imagery for the control building is vague to the point of obscurity. The photo above (left) is a kiosk beside the Bessborough river Intake. What that photo highlights is the possibility of anti-social graffiti appearing on a building in the public arena. It also shows the kind of typical security fencing associated with intake and kiosk infrastructure (see also picture above right).
The Treated Sewage Outfall.
In a drought 75 million litres a day of treated sewage would be pushed into the river at this location (next to Burnell Open space). The river will be at its most stressed, and the possibility of ecological harm is ever present.
Please CLICK HERE to find out more about the environmental issues of treated sewage.
There were two possible outfall designs in 2025 - Thames Water have selected the In-River outfall in 2026.
To the left Treated sewage go into the river through underwater pipes and diffusers. These would be located within and on the riverbed, roughly six to eight metres from the riverbank. Permanent in-river structures (posts with ropes and buoys) would be needed to protect the outfall structures and river users. These would take up approx. 15x15 metres of the river area. At no point has Thames Water given clear descriptions of the impact of this outfall on river users, paddleboarders, boaters, swimmers.
There are 14, 2m by 2m shafts associated with the outfall and the tunnel shaft of 3m by 4m. There is a “flood compensation area” associated with the outfall – no realistic description provided of that.
Groundworks-removal of Vegetation
Below are some photos from Burnell Riverside open space. Trees, shrubs and grass provide a range of environmental benefits to the riverside and riversedge. They provide shade, which helps lower the temperature of the river near the edge and of the land beneath the trees and shrubs. This benefits animals, insects and people! Differing levels of the riverside grassland means there are a variety of habitats for butterflies and other insects. Trees and shrubs provide a habitat for a variety of animals, bats, birds and insects.
The ground works for TDRA at Burnell Riverside open space will level all trees and shrubs under 3 metres (10foot) high and the different levels of grassy areas will be flattened. From the Thames Water documents that would be a significant amount of the riverside vegetation that is shown in these photos.
The destruction of green spaces, especially those by rivers, should only happen when the the benefits outweigh the negatives. Thames Water say there is no alternative. We say there are.
