£1.7bn Thames storm tunnel looks 'likely' to get go ahead

The 30km stormflow tunnel that Thames Water wants to build under the Thames to stop raw sewage leaking into the river is likely to go ahead, according to the utility’s engineering director Mike Tempest.

“The government’s legal counsel has advised that the leakage may currently be in contravention of the European Waste Water Directive, which means the European Commission might take legal action,” he told CJ. “So the government needs to make a decision pretty quickly, and we’re expecting to hear some time this year. If they give the go-ahead, we are ready to move.”

The design and construction of the tunnel, which would cost an estimated £1.7bn, would probably span three AMP periods, Tempest said, and his preferred approach is to build it east to west from Beckton. Construction work could start as soon as 2008.

The cost of the scheme would probably be borne by the consumer, and it is conservatively estimated that the tunnel would add an extra £40 to each customer’s bill in the region.

Sewer flooding is a major problem for Thames Water because of London’s Victorian infrastructure. In August 2004, storms caused 600,000t of untreated sewage to leak into the Thames, killing thousands of fish, and also flooding people’s homes.