We at Save Our Lands and River (SOLAR) have issued formal challenges to the integrity of the Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) project’s “Best Value” selection process.
Our campaign has identified a fundamental mathematical flaw that has been used to misrepresent the TDRA as a “bargain” option. While the project is marketed as having an Average Incremental Cost (AIC) of approximately 69p/m³, this figure assumes the plant operates 365 days a year. In reality, the scheme is an emergency asset intended to run for only about 45 days annually. When corrected for this operational reality, the true unit cost to customers rises to 512p/m³, making it 7.5 times more expensive than claimed and potentially the costliest water scheme in the country.
We have sent letters regarding this “phantom economics” to:
- Chris Murray (Chair of Water Resources South East): Challenging the quality assurance checks that allowed this 700% discrepancy in unit cost to pass unnoticed.
- Chris Weston (CEO of Thames Water): Demanding an explanation for the material contradiction between their financial case and their operational model.
- Emma Hardy MP: Urging a review of the regulatory framework that is currently being used to greenlight this project based on inaccurate data.
We are calling on the authorities to stop the TDRA scheme immediately and pivot to the many available, better-value alternatives that do not place such a significant, unjustified financial burden on customers.
You can read the full text of our correspondence to these stakeholders by clicking the links above.