From the Cathedral of Sewage to the Super Sewer

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Little more than a stone’s throw from London’s Olympic Park is a structure that emanates from a different era. Now buried among an urban collage of concrete and scaffold, ‘The Cathedral of Sewage’ stands testament to an industrial age passing and points inexorably towards the future, towards the ‘Super Sewer’ that will herald the next phase of London’s sanitation system, a future that will create a legacy that will endeavour to match the testament of Bazalgette’s feat of engineering some 160 years before it.



The Lee Tunnel, from Abbey Mills to the Beckton Sewage Treatment Works, will see a boring machine drive a shaft of 4 miles in length to ensure an increase in London’s sewerage capacity, to minimise discharges of untreated sewage entering the River Thames. To that end the Thames Anglers’ Conservancy was invited by Thames Water to bear witness to the beginnings of a new age of water waste management in the East End of London.



The Thames Tunnel is a necessity beyond any quibbling; the completion of the project in its entirety is something that we hope the members of the TAC will give their full support to, despite the inconvenience and the cost, which is estimated, will see an increase to the average Thames Water user’s bill of around £40 per annum. There is no alternative.

Whilst on this potted tour of the Abbey Mills Pumping Stations, one message was clearly evident among those that work for Thames Water, those that are closely associated with this piece of history (and this above and beyond the facts and figures). It is that they are immensely proud of what has been achieved in times past, and all that develops in the future will have the watchful eye of people that really do care for the future of London’s waterways, the future appears to be in safe hands.

London Tideway Improvements - Thames Water


TAC

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We even had the opportunity to go underground and into the sewer! Here we all are just before we entered a world that few will ever see, amazing...





Richard

I do some work now and again for Thames Water and they have some fantastic old sites along the Thames.

what a splendid bunch, how come you aint got pixie boots, a very rare opportunity indeed, a big thanks to richard aylard, the main man at thames water, think thats the cycle complete for you, from pan to sewer to farm, to river and not many people can say that