Thames Water hunting 60,000 misconnections

Thames Water is hunting for an estimated 60,000 wastewater misconnections as it attempts to reduce the number of pollution incidents.

The company estimates that plumbing mistakes have resulted in one in 10 households misconnecting their appliances, such as toilets, to the surface water drainage system, with this being as high as one in three in some areas of London.

Recent partnership work with the Environment Agency and Harrow and Brent Councils, which started in 2012 after wastewater was found to be running into the Wealdstone Brook found that 339 household appliances had been misconnected.

Another investigation by Thames Water found 975 appliances between 2009 and December 2014 to be draining into the Muswell stream, a tributary of the River Lee.

Initial investigations in both projects to identify problem areas involved the Thames Water team hanging wire cages inside the drain network to catch toilet and kitchen waste and other evidence of pollution as it was flushed out of toilets and taps and along to the watercourse.

Brighid Heaney, from Thames Water’s environment team, said: “No one wants toilets emptying directing into their local river so it’s a great feeling to have sorted this problem out and improved the water quality in the stream.

“We’ve got a massive job still to do to trace more of these misconnections across our patch – so it’s really important that anyone having extensions built or carrying out plumbing work employs a reputable plumber and knows exactly where their wastewater is heading.”