First-ever Desalination Plant Planned For London
Thames Water is finalizing plans for London's first-ever desalination plant.
Subject to planning permission, the £200m project is due to come on stream in 2007/2008; a planning application is scheduled to be submitted to the London Borough of Newham in late June with construction work expected to start around Christmas.
The works will convert salty water from the tidal Thames in east London into drinking water for the capital's growing population.
It will play a key role in guaranteeing supplies to customers during drought periods.
The plant will have a maximum treatment capacity of 150 million liters of water a day, enough to supply 900,000 customers. It will use the latest reverse osmosis technology, widely used in Mediterranean countries.
A new pipeline will transfer the desalinated water around nine miles (14km) to an existing underground storage reservoir in Woodford, Essex, ready for distribution to customers across north east London. The scheme will also relieve pressure on other water sources across the capital, especially in extended dry periods.
A pilot plant has been established adjacent to the site of the planned works on the Thames Estuary.
The investment forms part of a package of measures exceeding £1 billion over the next five years (2005-2010) to ensure that London continues to receive all the water it needs.
Why Now?
Per head of population London is drier than Madrid and Istanbul. Over 55 per cent of available rainfall in the Thames Water region is already used for public supply. This is the highest rate in the country and is on a par with Mediterranean countries.
Lifestyle factors such as an increasing volume of single occupancy households in London and the south east also mean that individual demand for water is still rising. Today the average daily amount used per customer is 163 liters, compared to 153 liters in 1990 and 140 liters in the early 1980s, approximately a 15% increase over 20 years. Recently the introduction of water-efficient white goods has slowed down the rate of increase, but the trend is still upwards.
Climate change accentuates the need for the desalination plant. The summer of 2003 was the third driest on record. Thames Water has to plan ahead on the assumption that such summers will become the norm rather than the exception.
By 2016 London is set to have over 800,000 new residents, the equivalent of the current population of Leeds moving to the capital. Much of this development will be centered on the eastern side of London, the focus of London's 2012 Olympic bid.
What Else is Thames Water Doing to Boost Supplies?
The desalination plant is one part of Thames Water's strategy to secure supplies for its eight million drinking water customers across London and the Thames Valley
The biggest short-term priority is to tackle high leakage levels in "Metropolitan" London (Brent, Camden, Islington, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Tower Hamlets, Westminster) through a rolling program of mains replacement. Between 2005 and 2010 Thames Water is planning to relay over 1000 miles (1700 km) of ageing Victorian pipes, which have also deteriorated due to London's corrosive, shifting clay soils and heavy traffic in the capital.
Looking further ahead the company is also developing plans for a major new reservoir on the Upper Thames, which would store surplus winter rainfall to be released back into the Thames in dry summer months, boosting supplies locally and in London. The reservoir could take up to 20 years to design, take through the planning process, construct and fill.
Promoting water efficiency is an ongoing feature of Thames Water's strategy for managing water resources. New initiatives include working with Reading FC to spread the water-wise message via adverts in match day programs and on the Madjeski Stadium's electronic scoreboard.
Source: Thames Water