Thames Water Fined £19,000 for Polluting Lakes and River

Thames Water Utilities Limited pleaded guilty on 20 August 2002 to polluting the River Wey and lakes on the Waterside Estate at Passfield, Hampshire with sewage, killing several hundred fish.

Aldershot Magistrates’ Court heard how sewage was discharged into the River Wey and lakes on the privately owned Passfield estate between 11 and 14 November last year.

The incident arose from a blocked foul sewer south of the estate on 10 November. Thames Water cleared that blockage, but by 12 November the same sewer was blocked again. As a result, sewage overflowed via a manhole and into a ditch that leads to the River Wey.

The sewage then entered Waterside Estate lakes via the ditch and a pumping device which usually lifts clean water to the three lakes.

Owing to difficulties in getting access to the site and Thames Water contractors coming to the end of their shift, the blockage was not cleared that day. The blockage, which is believed to have been caused by fat build-up, was only cleared by Thames Water in the early afternoon of 13 November.

The magistrates today expressed their concern at the exceptional levels of incompetence and lack of communication and liaison that led the company’s contractors to fail to deal swiftly with the blockage.

The pollution killed all the carp and other minor species in the East Pond and the Japanese Water Gardens at the estate. The West Lake was affected last by the pollution, which gave Environment Agency officers time to dose it with hydrogen peroxide to increase the oxygen in the lake and prevent a total fish kill.

Fortunately the pollution was diluted in the River Wey due to its size, and so there was little environmental impact on the river itself.

Thames Water was fined £19,000 for causing the sewage to enter the river and lakes, and ordered to pay £1,050 to the Environment Agency in costs. The case was brought under Section 85(3)(a) of the Water Resources Act 1991.

Agency environment protection officer Tessa Vandenberghe said: "It is important for Thames Water to have plans in place for dealing with emergencies. We are glad to hear that the company now has a routine cleansing programme for this sewer and hope this will prevent a repeat of this type of incident in the future."

The court heard that the company has also paid out a further £45,000 for fish restocking, sewer maintenance and bridle-way repairs.
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