{"id":710777,"date":"2026-01-21T12:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/710777\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T12:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T12:12:13","slug":"call-for-action-over-sewage-misconnections-polluting-enfields-rivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/710777\/","title":{"rendered":"Call for action over sewage ‘misconnections’ polluting Enfield’s rivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Enfield is believed to be one of the worst-affected boroughs in London for domestic waste pollution entering rivers,<\/strong> reports Finn Logue<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"PollutionPollution spotted in a tributary of Pymmes Brook, near Southgate<\/p>\n

Sewage \u2018misconnections\u2019 are causing high levels of pollution across Enfield\u2019s rivers \u2013 leading to significant ecological issues and impact on wildlife.<\/p>\n

Thames Water figures\u00a0recently highlighted by regional news outlet\u00a0London Centric<\/a>\u00a0showed 409 misconnections had been recorded in Enfield since 2020, the most of any London borough, although most have since been fixed. Neighbouring Haringey borough was named as having the most \u2018live\u2019 misconnections, with 161.<\/p>\n

Every property in Enfield has two drainage systems; one for foul wastage which is directed to sewage plants, and another for surface level rainwater which is redirected back into Enfield\u2019s tributary rivers such as the Pymmes Brook, Salmons Brook and Turkey Brook.<\/p>\n

Misconnections occur when foul waste water intended for sewage drains\u00a0is wrongly connected to the surface water system instead, meaning it is subsequently pumped into Enfield\u2019s waterways. The problem only incurs in boroughs \u2013 mostly in outer London \u2013 with separate systems for storm and waste water.<\/p>\n

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) estimates that between 150,000 and 500,000 households in the UK have misconnections.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the environmental charity Thames21 said: \u201cIn areas of London with separate wastewater and stormwater drainage systems \u2013 which is mainly outer London \u2013 misconnected pipes can lead to raw sewage and other wastewater from sinks and washing machines, being discharged directly into London\u2019s rivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMisconnections are often only discovered by tracing storm outflows back to individual households.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the solution lies in better information and awareness. We are keen to keep on raising awareness of this issue to tackle the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter Leedham, a campaigner with river action group Pymmes Brookers<\/a>, said that the issue was likely to be far more widespread than the numbers suggest. At a loose estimate, he believes 4-5% of all properties in the borough contain misconnected sewage drainage, causing significant ramifications for Enfield\u2019s rivers.<\/p>\n


\nHe added that it was \u201cvirtually impossible\u201d to confirm the numbers of affected properties because a \u201clack of resource\u201d was inhibiting Thames Water, Enfield Council, and other environmental groups from discovering the true extent of the issue.<\/p>\n

Speaking to\u00a0the Dispatch, Peter said: \u201c[These groups] don\u2019t have the resources. So they\u2019re not looking for pollution. They\u2019re not looking for what might be happening in the upper reaches of Salmon\u2019s Brook.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly if they\u2019re told there\u2019s a problem will they react. They\u2019re reactive, not proactive. And if we\u2019re going to solve this problem, they\u2019ve got to be proactive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pymmes Brookers holds regular meetings with Enfield Council and Thames Water, as well as consulting with the Environmental Agency on a national level to raise awareness of the misconnections issue.<\/p>\n

Asked about Enfield Council\u2019s role in preventing this problem, Sabri Ozaydin,\u00a0cabinet member for environment, said: \u201cSewage misconnections are a serious problem in Enfield and across London, and they are a major cause of sewage and pollution entering our rivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile some issues are linked to old or poorly altered plumbing, Thames Water has primary responsibility to properly manage the sewer network and take action when problems are identified.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnfield Council works closely with Thames Water to report and investigate misconnected pipes. We expect Thames Water to take stronger and faster action to fix faults in the public system to prevent sewage pollution in our waterways. Where polluters can be identified, we will take enforcement action.\u201d<\/p>\n

Misconnected pipes are illegal and, according to Thames Water, \u201cthe property owner is responsible\u201d. But according to Peter, most people are completely unaware of their misconnected pipes and a lack of general education and funding is preventing their discovery.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe only way you can begin to identify and solve this is by, I think, having funds available to inspect every property every few years. There should be a statutory drainage certificate issued, like there is a gas certificate.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo get these funds and resourcing, it\u2019s higher up that we need to get to. We need to get this whole business elevated on the public awareness so that politicians have to take note of it and do something about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur rivers in North London haven\u2019t had fish in them for years because of this pollution. So the Environmental Agency has got an absolutely wonderful excuse for not doing anything, because there are no fish left to kill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thames Water were approached for comment but did not respond.<\/p>\n

Independent news outlets like ours \u2013 reporting for the community without rich backers \u2013 are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Choose the news. Don\u2019t lose the news.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monthly direct debit\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

Annual direct debit<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a35 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month\u2019s paper before anyone else, \u00a310 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month\u2019s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. \u00a350 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Donate<\/a><\/p>\n

More information on supporting us monthly or yearly\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

More Information about donations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Enfield is believed to be one of the worst-affected boroughs in London for domestic waste pollution entering rivers,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,17194,393,728,4884,257,856,213000,37096,213001,28889,213002,213003,16,15],"class_list":["post-710777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-britain","tag-enfield-council","tag-england","tag-environment","tag-great-britain","tag-london","tag-pollution","tag-pymmes-brook","tag-rivers","tag-salmons-brook","tag-thames-water","tag-the-pymmes-brookers","tag-turkey-brook","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115933029842440736","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}