Nearly 10,000 oppose plan to pump treated sewage into Thames

Thames Water proposal to deal with droughts in capital draws ire of river users and environmentalists

Almost 10,000 people have signed a petition against proposals by Thames Water to tackle drought by drawing off up to 100m litres of water a day from the Thames and replacing it with treated effluent from one of Europe's biggest sewage treatment works.

The company, which leaks 630m litres a day from its pipes, is attempting to get a new scheme approved involving tens of millions of litres of treated effluent being pumped into the Thames from Mogden sewage works in west London to tackle future water shortages.