Watch: Suspected sewage clogs up popular watersports spot in London

The River Thames in south west London appeared to be “full of sewage” near a popular spot for wild swimming and water sports.

A video taken by a resident near Richmond, south west London, purported to show clumps of waste and scum across the surface of the water.

Sarah Olney, the local MP, said that the footage showed the river to be in a “disgusting state” and called it a “complete environmental hazard”.

Sharing the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, said: “This is the disgusting state of the river full of sewage down at Teddington Lock this morning.”

She asked Thames Water and Steve Barclay, the Environment Secretary: “How much longer are you going to let this disgusting practice continue?”

Team sent to investigate

Water companies are permitted to release sewage into rivers and seas under certain conditions to stop it backing up into people’s homes. Many sewage overflows are automatically triggered during times of heavy rain, and figures show that at least 72 billion litres of sewage has been discharged into the River Thames since 2020.

A spokesman for Thames Water said that the video had not been “officially verified” but that the organisation’s overflow map suggested that the sewage treatment works in nearby Esher “have been impacted by heavy rainfall in recent days”.

It is understood that Thames Water is sending a team to investigate and take samples of the water course, and that Environment Agency specialist officers are also looking into it.

It is also understood that the Environment Agency considers the video to show natural foam and not sewage pollution.

Peter Morris, 65, who filmed the video, said that he had been crossing the bridge over the water at midday on Wednesday when he saw the state of the river.

He told The Telegraph: “I was just walking across the bridge and I just noticed a whole bunch of stuff floating in the water.

“I know not what the constituent parts were but I’d say looking at the picture, it didn’t really convey as much as was there because of the light. But it was really quite shocking to see it.”

He added: “In years gone by I really don’t recall having gone across that bridge and seen anything like that.”

Mr Morris said that the area was popular for water sports, and added: “If a kid is canoeing, and they do a lot of canoeing round there, and then turn over they could be in serious trouble, I suspect. I’m not an expert on water quality, but just looking at that, it seems impossible that that could be a healthy river.”

‘Improving the health of rivers is a focus for us’

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “We are looking into an online report of white foam on the surface of the River Thames at Teddington.

“A specialist officer will visit the scene to determine the cause of the discoloration and take appropriate next steps.”

A spokesman for Thames Water said: “Taking action to improve the health of rivers is a key focus for us and we want to lead the way with our transparent approach to data.

“We remain the only company to provide live alerts for all untreated discharges and this ‘near real-time’ data is available to customers as a map on our website and is also available through an open-data platform for third parties, such as swimming and environmental groups to use.”

The spokesman added: “We are working hard to make these discharges unnecessary and have published plans to upgrade over 250 of our sewage treatment works and sewers to treat the high volumes of incoming sewage and reduce the need for overflows during wet weather, including plans to upgrade our Esher and Gerrards Cross sites.”

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.