• Thames Water will be hosting four community information events across South West London to share and discuss its plans to provide a secure and sustainable water supply for the next 50 years.
• The plans include a direct river abstraction project in West London – designed to keep Londoners’ taps flowing during periods of drought.
• The project will deliver up to 75 million litres of water per day, equivalent of 30 Olympic sized swimming pools.
• The company predicts it will need an extra 1 billion litres of water every day by 2050 to meet customer demand, expected population growth and climate change.
• Being water scarce could cost London’s economy alone around £500 million each day.

Thames Water has launched a public consultation on its proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction project. The project is designed to protect water security for future generations and will enable the company to abstract more water from the River Thames during periods of drought, supported by water recycling.

The public consultation is open until the 11 December 2023 and is asking for feedback on the potential sites for the new structures, pipelines and shafts that Thames Water think would be needed for the project.

The community information events in Teddington, Twickenham and Kingston, will run alongside the consultation on the proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction project, where local people, communities and stakeholders can find out more about the proposals and talk to the team.

The latest round of engagement follows on from extensive public consultation on the company’s strategic Water Resources Management Plan that took place between December 2022 and March 2023.

Nevil Muncaster, Strategic Partnerships Director at Thames Water, said: “Water is an essential resource to keep the city functioning and in London we supply around 2 billion litres every day, that’s equivalent to 25 million baths.

“We need to plan ahead, to meet a growing demand and prepare for extreme heat, as seen in 2022 when temperatures reached record highs in the UK. That’s why we’re consulting on our drought resilience plans for London, including a proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction project.

“We’re hosting events throughout November where customers and communities are invited to have their say and to find out more about the project, which is designed to protect water supply during drought and extreme heat.”

Dates of community meetings:

Friday 3 November: York House, Twickenham, TW1 3AA (2pm to 8pm) - sign-up here

Thursday 9 November: Peter & Paul Centre, Teddington, TW1 3AA (2pm to 8pm) - sign-up here

Monday 13 November: Twickenham Stadium, TW2 7BA (2pm to 8pm) - sign-up here

Monday 20 November: Kingston YMCA Hawker, KT2 5BH (2pm to 8pm) - sign-up here

The events and consultation follow on from the publication of Thames Water’s revised draft Water Resources Management Plan at the end of August. It outlines the actions and investment required to deliver a secure and sustainable water supply, for the next 50 years and beyond.

The wider plan includes ambitious leakage and customer demand reduction targets, alongside the development of new water resources.

Event attendees can learn about the project, along with the challenges that we need to plan for including, climate change, population growth and the need to reduce the amount of water taken from rivers and chalk streams to protect the environment.

To sign-up to attend an event visit this website.

To share feedback on Teddington Direct River Abstraction site options and to respond to the public consultation please do this:

By email: TDRA@ipsos.com

By post: FREEPOST TDRA CONSULTATION