Sewage is currently being released from Thames Water's Witney and Oxford Sewage Treatment Works. 

A sewage release alert posted last night from Oxford Thames Sewage Alerts Twitter account, said: “We wanted to let you know about an ongoing sewage release at Witney STW. The release started at 20:30 on 16/11/2022."

It said: “We’ll notify you at 06:00 tomorrow morning if the release is still happening.”

The same account reports an ongoing sewage release at Oxford Sewage Treatment Works which started at 10.15pm yesterday (16/11).

At the end of October, following the heaviest rain there had been for months, Thames Water released sewage for 48 hours.

READ ALSO: Man in his 80s dies after being hit by a van in Wantage

It is currently legal for water companies to discharge raw, untreated sewage into rivers in times of ‘exceptionally heavy rainfall’.

But there has been anger and protests in Witney and Oxford over pollution in local waterways as well as this summer’s imposition of hosepipe bans amid high levels of water leaks.

Thames Water has said a major project to increase the treatment capacity of the works at Witney will be completed by 2024.

"We regard all discharges of untreated sewage as unacceptable and are working hard to accelerate work to stop them being necessary across our catchment area.”

 

 

Read more from this author

This story was written by Miranda Norris, she joined the team in 2021 and covers news across Oxfordshire as well as news from Witney.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Miranda.Norris@newsquest.co.uk. Or find her on Twitter: @Mirandajnorris

Profile: Miranda Norris Journalists news from the Oxford Mail

Profile: Miranda Norris Journalists news from the Oxford Mail