London Waterkeeper

23/04/2026

Greater public control of Thames Water starts here with you!
Send our legally binding request for the company to publish its detailed plans for sewer upgrades.
Our bills will pay for this work and we have the right to know it will be spent wisely.
When the information is in the public domain it can be assessed by independent wastewater experts. If the plans aren't good enough we can challenge them.
Make Thames Water accountable. Take action here:
https://www.londonwaterkeeper.org.uk/take-action-1

21/11/2025

Banning most plastic wet wipes from 2027 may see little reduction in sewer blockages.
Non-plastic wipes can still cause fatbergs if flushed. They don't disintegrate like toilet paper.
Producers must pay towards the £100m it costs to clear them.

Water companies say wet wipes containing plastic are one of the main causes of blockages in their pipes.

15/09/2025

Sewers don’t pollute rivers every time it rains, but roads and paved areas do.
Where surface water systems are connected to rivers all the muck that builds up in dry weather is dumped into them.
This problem is unquantified and unregulated by the Environment Agency.

14/06/2025

Cutting sewer overflows with green infrastructure will look a lot like Queen Caroline Estate in West London.
Lots of spaces to slow rain so it doesn't overwhelm sewers.
It helps cut surface water flood risk in Hammersmith & urban heating.
It creates better living spaces too.
Green infrastructure is needed to prolong the life of the Supersewer.
But we need it across London where paved areas see rain rush into sewers, rather than water plants & trees.
Case study:
https://www.susdrain.org/case-studies/case_studies/queen_caroline_estate_london.html

02/06/2025

We're pleased to announce we have twinned the Bagmati River in Nepal with the Thames.
The link was marked in Kathmandu today at a ceremony to mark Sithi Nakha & a more modest one in London.
A partnership between London Waterkeeper & Bagmati River Waterkeeper.
The twinning of the Bagmati & the Thames echoes the partnership forged between the Karnali River Waterkeeper and the Hudson Riverkeeper in 2018.
This is under the auspices of the Nepal River Conservation Trust.

19/02/2025

The only glimpses of the River Fleet are at Hampstead Heath before it disappears into the sewer system.
Its wiggly journey to the Thames at Blackfriars is best shown on the old London County Council Main Drainage map at Abbey Mills Pumping Station.
At Kenwood House you do get the sense that you are looking down a wide river valley.
The dips and hollows give the headwaters somewhere to gather.
Further down, there are just hints that the Fleet used flowed here. Street names or bends in the road.
The once pastoral scene at St Pancras Old Church now has asphalt instead of water.
These trickles on Hampstead Heath are a long way from what the Fleet becomes, but they remind us that London was a city defined by its river

16/01/2025

How do we stop rivers in London being polluted?
Ldn Cpre is hosting a webinar next Thurs lunchtime (23rd) "London's sewage crisis: will the Super Sewer solve it?"
With Clean Up the River Brent, the Environment Agency and London Waterkeeper.
(It won't just be about the super sewer).
Free tickets:

With the opening of the long-awaited new 'super sewer' in London, we have some established speakers to answer the key question - is the new Super Sewer the answer to all our problems?!Theo Thomas, CEO of London Waterkeeper Ben Morris, River Guardian, Founder of CURB (Clean Up the River Brent), Trust...

01/11/2024