Thames Water hopeful of sewage flooding solution

Thames Water says it is hopeful a short-term solution to sewage that has flooded Horley residents' properties will be implemented in the coming months.

Steve Pelham, who lives near Horley Sewage Treatment Works, said water contaminated with E. Coli had flooded his garden three times in five years.

Thames Water chief operations officer, Esther Sharples, wrote to the town's MP to say the issue is "one of our top priorities".

Dorking and Horley MP Chris Coghlan said he was "waiting to see the details" of the proposed solution, but thought the firm had "got the message that it has to stop, because it's so horrific."

He told BBC Radio Surrey that he was pleased Thames Water was acting, but he had reported the company to the Environment Agency and regulator Ofwat "to try and put maximum pressure on them to act".

Ms Sharples said in her letter that Thames Water would "explore all options to bring forward" mitigation measures and were "carrying out the necessary surveys" to confirm its short-term solution will be effective.

"I am therefore not able to provide precise details just yet, but will be able to give you a more detailed explanation in June, and I remain hopeful of a solution being in place this summer," she wrote.

She added that Thames Water was also "developing a long-term plan to carry out further mitigation".

Coghlan said: "The proof will be in the pudding of whether they actually deliver."

Mr Pelham said that his garden had been flooded in November and in January.

The floodwater tested positive for E. Coli and high levels of ammonia and phosphates, according to the Lee Street resident.

"In places it was waist deep and up to your knees pretty much everywhere else," he said.

"Let's hope that they not only sort the immediate issue out, but futureproof it for any other developments that are happening, and hopefully it won't ever happen again."

Water quality campaign group River Mole River Watch said Horley Sewage Treatment Works had received "a woeful lack of investment" for decades.

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