Signs have now been placed alongside a river in Chalfont St Peter as a warning to residents to keep out of the water due to concerns about sewage.
Residents have spoken about their disgust after the signs were placed near the River Misbourne, reading: ‘Stop. Keep out of the water. Awaiting test results from Thames Water.’
One resident, Mike Adams, posted about his frustration on social media: “I am mad as hell about this. People like this, who treat essential public services as opportunities to make money and nothing more, feel no shame. Thames Water, you are a disgrace.”
Now, three water companies face fines from Ofwat following an investigation into their performance. The regulation authority proposed Thames Water pay the largest fine – a total of £104million – followed by £47million for Yorkshire Water, and £17million for Northumbrian Water.
The penalties relate to the water companies’ wastewater treatment and sewage systems after they were criticised for releasing too much pollution into waterways.
A spokesperson for Thames Water shared with CHALFONTS&GERRARDSCROSSnews: “Our region experienced the wettest winter since records began 136 years ago, resulting in exceptionally high groundwater and river levels. This led to large volumes of groundwater and river floodwater to enter our sewers and fill the Amersham storm tanks, causing them to discharge diluted wastewater into the River Misbourne. As water levels have dropped, so have the levels in the tanks and they are no longer discharging.
“As climate change impacts our infrastructure and demand on it increases, more investment is needed across the entire sector. That’s why we’ve asked for increased investment. We have also published plans to upgrade 250 of our sites across the region as we strive to increase treatment capacity and reduce the number of necessary discharges. This includes our Maple Lodge, Chesham and Gerrards Cross sewage treatment works.
“While all storm discharges are unacceptable, the sewage system was historically designed to work in this way, to prevent sewage backing up into people’s homes. We’ve put transparency at the heart of what we do, and we were the first water company to publish a real time data map on our website.”
Photo: River Misbourne River Action
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