Tideway Tunnel half hooked up and starting to do its job

Twelve of the 21 sewer connection points into the Thames Tideway Tunnel are now online, the super sewer team has reported in a progress update.

And, they said, the infrastructure is proving its worth. On a single 24 hour period during heavy rainfall (27 November), the tunnel captured nearly 850,000 tonnes of sewage. At its peak, the entire system was over half full, containing nearly one million tonnes of storm sewage.

Roger Bailey, Tideway’s chief technical officer, said: “These new figures show the super sewer starting to do its job. As more connections come online, the protection of the river will increase further, dramatically improving its health. There is still work to do but our teams are working hard to make the new infrastructure fully operational next year.”

Nevil Muncaster, asset management and engineering director at Thames Water, added: “During storms like we’ve just seen, the super sewer really comes into its own; successfully protecting the environment from wastewater overflows that would otherwise have been necessary.

“The Thames Tideway Tunnel is a significant part of our overall investment programme, developed over many years, to improve the health of the Thames. Collectively these investments will culminate in a 95% reduction in storm overflows in the capital once it’s fully commissioned next year.”