London’s massive ‘super sewer’ has officially started operating

The gates of London’s brand new ‘super sewer’ are officially open. The Thames Tideway Tunnel, as it’s officially known, has been eight years and £4.5 billion in the making, intended to protect the Thames from pollution (right now the river is pretty grim). There are valves (basically giant gates) at 21 sites throughout the tunnel. Now, the first valves at four of those sites been switched on.

Seven metres wide and 25km long, the Tideway Tunnel will work by intercepting, storing and transferring gross sewage waste from the river. Back in May it was connected to the 6.7km Lee Tunnel, giving the network a combined capacity of 1.6 million metres squared. 

The project’s not quite finished though. Work is still underway to get the whole system running over the coming months and there’s still testing going on to make sure the system is effective during all different weather conditions. Plus, there’s still work happening above ground to create new riverside ‘mini-parks’ as part of the project. 

Andy Mitchell, chief executive of Tideway, said: ‘These are early days, with more connections to make and further testing to come, but the super sewer’s positive influence on the health of the Thames will increase over the coming months – and London will soon be home to the cleaner, healthier river it deserves.’

It’s about time! Who knows, we might all be taking a dip in the Thames in just a few years. 

London’s dirtiest streets have been revealed – with one in the southwest named filthiest.

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