The water regulator has confirmed that Thames Water has been authorised to invest £400m in improving two of its London water treatment works to secure drinking water supplies. Through an agreement with Ofwat, it can effectively implement a number of schemes within the Coppermills and Hampton water treatment plants. Jobs will consist of replacing undersized or inefficient pipes and building treatment plants with increased flow capabilities. The campaign is tentatively scheduled to be completed by January 2032.
Esther Sharples, chief operating officer at Thames Water, said: “The vital thing is creating resilience and investing in principal infrastructure that will help us prepare for the hard times to come.” With the increase in London population in the future, especially in hot and dry summers, the demand for water will be a major challenge. We are putting significant emphasis on the condition of our assets. And the upgrades we are planning will mean better water security for millions of people getting their water from London.
Thames Water will keep Ofwat posted on key milestone progress as it strives to fulfil its project objectives. Thames Water has now come to an agreement with the regulator on the need for the investment and is now going forward with the schemes at Coppermills in the Lea Valley in east London and Hampton in west London. At the beginning of September last year, it came to the forefront that Thames Water has fallen short of £373M of its price cap for clean water investment.
English 