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Ten years after construction began, and £5 billion later, London’s ‘super sewer’ is finally ready for action.
The Thames Tideway Tunnel, to give it its official but less-fun name, is 25km long, stretching from Acton through the city to Abbey Mills (near Stratford) where it connects with the Lee Tunnel.
The last valve for the new poo pipe was connected on Valentine’s Day (romantic!) and that means that the tunnel can begin the very important job of diverting sewage outflows that have been polluting the already quite unappealing river. Twenty-one valves along the route (including at Putney, Victoria Bridge and Greenwich) can now reroute our yuckiest waste to sewage treatment works for processing, making the Thames far cleaner, if still quite brown.
It’s hoped that the tunnel will stop 95 percent of sewage spills caused by the old, predominantly original Victorian system being blocked up by too much waste from London’s growing population. According to construction firm Tideway, 5.5 million tonnes of sewage were prevented from flowing into the river in a single 24-hour period of heavy rain.
Tideway CEO Andy Mitchell is optimistic about the project’s impact: ‘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 first four valves were turned on in October last year, with a massive concrete lid being ceremonially slapped over a shaft in east London to mark the momentous occasion. It’s now fully connected, meaning all valves are operational – though they’ll still have to be tested for wild weather conditions like the storms we’ve been loving so much of lately.
Hard-launching the chute on X, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said, ‘I’m determined to make our rivers cleaner so we can continue to build a greener city.’
While it’s unlikely to be a prime location for open water swimming buffs any time soon, the Thames is now protected, and people all across the capital can relax in the knowledge that their waste won’t be taking a scenic float downriver.
Thanks to the super sewer, London is getting six new ‘mini parks’.
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