Heavy rainfall spells further sewage discharges in West Berkshire and North Hampshire
Recent heavy rainfall has caused storm drains to overflow into local waterways.
A number of storm drains have discharged into local water courses following heavy rainfall on Friday.
Thames Water’s online storm discharge data has recorded potential sewage discharges at six sites in West Berkshire and North Hampshire in the last 48 hours.
The longest recorded discharge lasted more than 21 hours — and one is discharging now.
Discharges into Briff Lane Stream at Bucklebury started today (Sunday) at 12.30pm and remains active.
This is the second discharge recorded today; the first started at 8.45am and lasted for one hour and 15 minutes.
Other discharges have been recorded at the following locations:
Chapel Row, the tributary of the River Bourne, from 7.30pm (Friday) until 2.45am (Saturday), lasting seven hours and 15 minutes.
Beenham, into Webbs Lane Stream, from 7pm (Friday) until 8.30pm, lasting one hour and 30 minutes.
Hamstead Marshall, into Hamstead Stream, from 3.45am (Friday) until 1.30am (Saturday), lasting 21 hours and 45 minutes.
Kingsclere, into Kingsclere Brook, from 6.45pm (Friday) until 5.15am (Saturday), lasting 10 hours and 30 minutes.
Washwater, into Pound Street Brook, from 9pm (Friday) until 12.30am (Saturday), lasting three hours and 30 minutes.
Data povided by the Pang Valley Flood Forum reveals sewage discharges at Bucklebury have totalled 118.8 hours over the last four months.
Sewage discharges at Chapel Row and Beenham have totalled 80.5 hours and 35.8 hours respectively over the same period.
Thames Water says it plans to upgrade these sites to improve their ability to treat the volumes of incoming sewage, reducing the need for untreated discharges in wet weather.
Planned upgrades at the sewage treatment works in Bucklebury, Chapel Row and Kingsclere are due to be completed in 2025.
In Washwater, planned upgrades are due for completion next year and by 2026 in Beenham.
No information is available for Hamstead Marshall.
Sewage discharge is a mixture of rainwater and untreated sewage, released by storm overflows into watercourses after heavy or continued rainfall.
