Water

London's drinking water is remarkably pure, and the Thames is the cleanest metropolitan river in Europe. The canals and waterways in London link a large number of open spaces from the inner city to the greenbelt, providing valuable habitats for flowers and wildlife, and places for people to stroll or cycle.

Two other water-related issues are flooding and sewage. London has an increased risk of flooding, particularly east of the Thames barrier - London's main flood defence. London's two major sewage treatment works (at Beckton and Crossness) now have very hi-tech generators to convert human waste - formerly dumped at sea - into power.

What's being done about London's water?

London's drinking water

The water supply in London is provided by one of 4 companies: Thames Water; Three Valleys Water; Sutton & East Surrey Water or Essex & Suffolk Water. The capital's water is taken from numerous sources, treated at one of several treatment works and distributed through a network. Water quality checks are made at frequent stages in the process. The systems are controlled from 24 hour centres where live information is provided about pressure, supply, demand and treatment status.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate is an independent watchdog whose main job is to check that water companies in England and Wales supply water that is safe to drink and meets the standards set in Water Quality Regulations.
The Office of Water Services (OFWAT) is responsible for economic regulation of the water industry and making sure that water is fairly priced.
The Consumer Council for Water is a national consumer watchdog agency for the water industry.

Waste water

London's waste water service is totally provided by Thames Water, which serves 13 million customers. Supplying some 2.7 billion litres of water each day, it is the largest water supplier in the world. Thames Water has three regulators - two environmental, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) - and one economic, OFWAT.

Environment Agency

The Environment Agency works to manage the environment in a way that meets current needs while preserving and protecting it for the future. It is responsible for water resources, pollution prevention and control, and flood defence.

The Environment Agency sets and enforces standards, prosecuting serious breaches. It also acts on reported pollution incidents, often working to locate and deal with the effects of pollution, determining the causes and acting to avoid such incidents happening again.

Canals and rivers

These corridors of nature and recreation that stretch from London's outskirts to its centre are managed by British Waterways. British waterways is a public corporation that manages and cares for more than 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in England, Scotland and Wales.

Water as a natural habitat

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs conserves water as a habitat for diverse wildlife. The Environment Agency works to prevent and reduce the risk of water pollution wherever possible, and ensure that it gets cleaned up if pollution occurs that might damage ecosystems.

Floods

The Environment Agency is responsible for flooding defence. It provides up-to-the-minute flood information and warnings by phone (0845 988 1188) and via online flood warnings. On the same phone number, trained operators are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can give practical advice on flood risk and what to do before, during and after a flood.

Water conservation and drought

Water is a precious resource that we can easily take for granted. With global warming leading to higher temperatures, experts say that summers will soon be hotter with less rain. To add to the problem, a predicted population growth of 1 million means that more water will be needed to ensure everyone in London has enough.

To help avoid the problem of there not being enough water, Thames Water's waterwise site has dozens of simple but effective tips to help you conserve water at home and work, as does the Directgov site.

What you can do

To do your bit and conserve water at home or work, see the 'How to' section for tips on easy ways to use less H2O in your daily life.

Find out more

The DWI keeps a browsable online archive of water quality reports by region, including one for London. DEFRA's pages contain a list of links to sources of information on the quality of the water environment throughout the UK.
For an overview and history of the water industry as well as downloadable data and maps pertaining to water quality and supply in London see the Environment Agency Water Quality pages.
Visit the Museum in Docklands to find out about the story of London's river, port and people from Roman times to the present day. London Canal Museum records the history of London's waterways - the people that lived and worked on them, the cargoes and the horses that pulled the boats.

Environment

Who does what

Finding help

Green London

Protecting the environment

Freedom of information

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