Design changes to plans to pump treated sewage into the Thames 'would be more disruptive', says local campaign group
By Charlotte Lillywhite - Local Democracy Reporter 29th May 2026
Campaigners have said changes to plans to pump treated wastewater into the River Thames in Teddington would be more disruptive.
Thames Water is carrying out a four-week consultation on proposed design changes to its controversial wastewater recycling scheme in Teddington.
But Save Our Lands And River (SOLAR) – a group of campaigners formed in opposition to the scheme – said the changes would make the project bigger, more disruptive and more infrastructure heavy.
The group said the Thames deserves protection, not more industrialisation.
The scheme would see up to 75 million litres of water a day taken from the Thames above Teddington Weir, in times of drought, and transferred along a new pipeline to an existing underground tunnel.
This water would then join the Lee Valley reservoirs, ready to become drinking water. It would be replaced with highly-treated wastewater from Mogden Sewage Treatment Works via a new tunnel.
The project is included in Thames Water's new Water Resources Management Plan (WRMP), which outlines how the firm plans to provide customers with a "secure and sustainable water supply" as it predicts it will need an extra billion litres of water a day by 2050 to account for climate change and growing population demand.
Thames Water said the scheme is needed to meet future water demand and provide drought resilience for London's residents, businesses, schools, hospitals and other services.
It has attracted fierce backlash, however, from local MPs, residents and campaigners, who have raised concerns about its potential impact on the environment, wildlife and human health.
A petition demanding it is scrapped has gained more than 31,900 signatures.
Thames Water said it proposed changes to the scheme after reviewing feedback to a 10-week consultation it held in 2025.
It has changed the design of the proposed intake and outfall structures near Beaufort Road and Burnell Avenue, including increasing the size of the nearby control building and the number of maintenance hatches needed.
It is proposing to use a bigger area to divert a power cable at a substation at Beaufort Road and to increase the number and peak levels of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) servicing the Burnell Avenue worksite, while reducing HGV movements at the Tudor Drive worksite and removing all HGV movements from the Ham Playing Fields worksite.
Other proposed changes involve extending the length of time construction would take place at the Burnell Avenue worksite and routing construction traffic through Ewell Road – on top of other roads already identified – to service the Burnell Avenue and Tudor Drive worksites.
The firm has also scrapped proposals to build an intermediate shaft at Ham Playing Fields, which it said means there would be no above ground works disrupting people using it, nearby businesses or Ham House and Garden.
Consultation documents say the changes mean the project would have greater impact on the area, including on recreation, health, open space, traffic, noise, air quality and a conservation area.
Responding to the changes, SOLAR said: "Many residents and campaign groups continue to question whether less damaging alternatives – including leakage reduction, demand management and alternative abstraction approaches – have been properly prioritised before pursuing major permanent infrastructure within public open space beside the Thames.
"The River Thames is not simply a utility asset. It is a living river used every day by swimmers, rowers, kayakers, paddleboarders, walkers, wildlife groups and families across our community.
"It has now been recognised as an official bathing water site. It deserves protection, not further industrialisation."
A Thames Water spokesperson told the LDRS the project would keep the taps flowing for millions of Londoners in times of drought.
The spokesperson said: "The combined effects of climate change, population growth and the need to protect the environment mean that if we don't do anything, we forecast that we'll have a shortfall of one billion litres of water every day by 2050.
"A large part of addressing this challenge is driving down leakage and helping our customers save more water.
"However, these measures won't be enough on their own. That's why it's vital for us to invest in new water infrastructure such as the Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) project.
"Since our statutory consultation last year, we have been considering all the feedback received, engaging with stakeholders, and developing our design with information from surveys and technical assessments.
"Listening to the local community is central to how we are developing this project and would encourage anyone with views on the latest proposals to respond before the consultation closes at 11.59pm on 18 June."
Thames Water is holding an in-person consultation event on June 2, from 2pm to 8pm, at St Andrew's Church Hall, in Ham, along with an online event on June 8 between 12pm and 1pm.
It is set to apply to the Government for a development consent order to build the project in early 2027.
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