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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Sandra Laville Environment correspondent

Thames Water fails to complete 108 upgrades to ageing sewage works

Pollution and plant debris on the Grand Union Canal at Harefield
Thames Water, which is awaiting a decision from Ofwat about its five-year-business plan, wants the regulator to agree to issue lower fines for pollution. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Rex/Shutterstock

Thames Water has failed to complete more than 100 upgrades to ageing sewage treatment works to meet legal pollution limits, the Guardian can reveal.

The schemes costing £1.1bn were supposed to cut pollution into rivers by increasing the capacity at sewage works, adding phosphorus removal to the treatment process, and installing new storm tanks. The upgrades, which were promised in 2018, are being paid for by customers as part of a five-year spending round to 2025 but will not be delivered within that timeframe.

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