Thames Water started releasing sewage from its Oxford treatment works yesterday afternoon.

Oxford Thames Sewage Alerts, an automatic notification Twitter account, said a release started at 13:30 on 03/01/2023.

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

Thames Water has apologised for recurring sewage releases near Oxford over Christmas.

Sewage release alerts for Witney Sewage Treatment Works were posted from a automatic notification Twitter account five times.

There was also a three-hour storm overflow from Church Hanborough on December 27.

Pop star turned environmental activist Feargal Sharkey retweeted the Witney alert with the comment: "There are only 2 small stretches of river in England officially designated as bathing water. This is one of them."

He was referring to the fact that Castle Mill Stream, a backwater of the Thames at Port Meadow, was granted bathing water status by DEFRA in April.

But by November the county’s only official swimming spot had failed bacteria safety tests.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: "Putting untreated sewage into rivers is unacceptable to us, but after heavy rain it’s sometimes necessary and permitted. This prevents it flooding homes, gardens, streets, and open spaces. With the help of the government, Ofwat and the Environment Agency, we're working hard to make these releases unnecessary.

“Our shareholders have recently approved a business plan that sees us spending an additional £2billion beyond what our customers are funding so we can improve outcomes for customers, leakage and river health and we’ve also committed to a 50% reduction in the total annual duration of spills across London and the Thames Valley by 2030, and within that an 80% reduction in sensitive catchments.

"We are currently increasing sewage treatment capacity at a number of our sewage works across the Thames Valley, including Witney and Fairford to be completed by 2025."

 

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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

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