EDITORS CHOICE
This is an important milestone, which will mean a huge reduction
in sewage going into the tidal Thames.”
“
London’s super sewer now fully connected – promising a greener, healthier River Thames
Tideway has announced the successful activation of the new super sewer, ushering in a healthier future for London’s iconic river.
After ten years of construction the last of 21 connections has been made between the original Victorian sewers and the new 25km Thames Tideway Tunnel, bringing the entire system online to protect the tidal Thames from sewage pollution.
Historically, the sewer network has struggled to cope with the twin challenges of population growth and climate change, with rainfall regularly overwhelming the system and causing it to discharge into the Thames.
Now, with the super sewer fully connected 95 per cent of those spills are being stopped.
Connections have been made at landmark locations including the starting point of the University Boat Race at Putney Embankment; Chelsea and Victoria Embankments; Blackfriars Bridge in the heart of the City of London; and King Edward Memorial Park in Wapping.
Today, Tideway has published its latest data on sewage prevented from entering
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the river since it first started connecting the super sewer. 5,500,000m³ has been captured to date – the equivalent of 2,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Data updates will be published regularly via a new tracker at
www.tideway.london
Tideway CEO Andy Mitchell said:
“This is another significant step forward – with this final connection complete, the super sewer is fully up and running and protecting the Thames. Our next step is to test it in storm conditions – which is why we are keeping a close eye on the weather – and we will do this over the coming months.
“We are at the start of a new chapter for London and its river. Our mission has always been about creating not just a tunnel, but a healthier, thriving environment for the river and its inhabitants. We look forward to seeing a real impact in the years to come and sharing everything we learn about the positive changes.”
The 25km-long super sewer connects to the 6.9km-long existing Lee Tunnel, a Thames Water asset – forming the ‘London Tideway Tunnel’ (LTT) system.
| March 2025 |
draintraderltd.com
The work of bringing the full system online began in the autumn of 2024, when Tideway announced that the first four connections had led to 589,000 tonnes of storm sewage being captured by the LTT in a single, rainy 24-hour period.
Later, in December, Tideway revealed that 848,365 tonnes had been captured during heavy rainfall in another 24-hour period – November 27th.
Work on the project began in 2016 – with activity taking place at two dozen construction sites from Acton in west London to Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Stratford, east London.
More than 20 deep shafts – some as wide as the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral – were constructed across London to divert sewage flows and to lower tunnelling machines into the ground.
The first of these giant machines started work deep beneath London in 2018, with primary tunnelling on the 25km main tunnel and two smaller connection tunnels completed in 2022.
By the autumn of 2023, a secondary tunnel lining was fully complete on all the tunnels, with the heavy civil engineering
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