The dumping of sewage into the River Thames by Thames Water has been a contentious topic for people who use, and live near, the county's waterways.

Sewage discharge into rivers has been a controversial matter because it means wild swimmers can not use the water and, campaigners argue, it negatively impacts the enviroment and wildlife. 

Treatment works are only meant to be able to put sewage into waterways after wet weather and when they are close to capacity.

READ MORE: Oxford protesters take to Port Meadow against sewage in River Thames

This is a timeline of sewage being released into the River Thames:

November 19

In November of last year, Thames Water were fined £4 million by The Environment Agency.

The water company was fined for releasing a 'waterfall' of around half a million litres of raw sewage into Oxford streams.

The Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution, said the sewage had been allowed to flow into Seacourt and Hinksey streams for around 30 hours in July 2016.

You can read more about that here>>>

December 26

Thames Water was criticised by a group of swimmers, who had to cancel their Boxing Day dip, after it informed residents of a “sewage release” on Christmas Day.

Dr Fiona Palumbo Tolan, a 42-year-old academic who is part of the group, told PA News Agency she was “extremely disappointed” by the incident.

She said: “We were extremely disappointed not to be able to swim today.

“Every week we have to check for notifications of sewerage releases before being sure that it’s safe to swim.”

You can read more about that here>>>

December 28

Sewage was still being released into Oxfordshire waterways from Witney Sewage Treatment Works on December 28.

You can read more here>>>

January 5

In early January sewage was still being released into the rivers in the county.

This meant that raw waste was released for a second week running.  

You can read more here>>>

January 10

On January 10 it was revealed that sewage had been released into a tributary of the Thames for 16 days in a row.

The discharge was being released from the treatment works in Witney into the River Windrush.

The update was announced in an alert posted on social media site Twitter by @oxthamessewage, which uses information from water company Thames Water, Oxford City Council and charities Thames 21 and The Rivers Trust.

You can read more here>>>

January 13

Witney MP Robert Courts wrote to Thames Water to express concern at continuous releases into the River Windrush from Witney sewage treatment works.

In a letter to the water company's CEO Sarah Bentley, posted to Mr Courts' Facebook page, the MP wrote: "Sewage releases are currently permitted when there are exceptional rainfall events, albeit for a limited time going forward given the recent legislation in the Environment Act.

"Yet the river levels in West Oxfordshire are all currently at or within their normal levels. Therefore, rather than this being an 'extreme measure', it appears that Thames Water are treating 'storming' as a routine process. This is clearly unacceptable to my constituents."

You can read the rest of the letter here>>>

January 20

On January 20, it was reported that Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran intended to join the protest happening at Port Meadow.

The protest was planned after river swimmers were not notified until 24 hours after Thames Water began dumping sewage into the River Windrush.

Read more here>>>

January 20

Cassington Sewage Treatment Works, the closest treatment works upstream from wild swimming spot Port Meadow, was referred to the Environment Agency for investigations.

Researchers from the Oxford Rivers Project submitted their data to the EA after finding that, in 2021, the works had spilled when rainfall was as low as 1mm, and sometimes before any rainfall had occurred.

Further analysis indicated that raw sewage was being discharged into the Thames even when the works was operating below full capacity.

Read more here>>>

January 21

Protesters were getting ready to take to Port Meadow at the weekend to protest the sewage releases.

You can read more about why they were protesting here in our explainer here>>>

January 23

Oxford Mail: The protesters at Port MeadowThe protesters at Port Meadow

On Sunday at 11.30am hundreds of protesters took to Port Meadow to demonstrate against sewage being dumped.

At least 500 people attended the event which was hosted by the Clean Our River Thames (CORT) and #EndSewagePollution Mid-Thames groups.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran spoke at the rally and said she is “absolutely disgusted” by the sewage releases.

She said: “Like many of you I am absolutely disgusted by what we see in our rivers and it needs to stop.

“Thank you all for coming, I was not expecting this number of people on a cold Sunday, because what it does is it puts pressure on Thames Water, on the Environment Agency and on our Government to do more.

“When [the Conservative Government] had their chance to clean up our rivers they shirked their responsibility. They the option to introduce amendments to the Environment Bill that would have put an absolute end to polluting in our rivers and they chose not to and boy do they regret it.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We regard all discharges of untreated sewage as unacceptable and will work with the government, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to accelerate work to stop them being necessary and are determined to be transparent. 

"We understand the river users’ concerns and our aim will always be to try and do the right thing for rivers and for the communities who love and value them. 

“We have an unprecedented amount of investment directed towards safeguarding our rivers and streams. Between 2020 and 2025 we are spending £1.25 billion on maintaining and improving our operational sites, including contributing to the health of 745km of rivers across London and the Thames Valley. 

"We’re increasing sewage treatment capacity at our sewage works in the area, including Witney and Oxford, and we’re also committed to continuing our industry-leading trial to provide real-time alerts of sewage discharges in 2022.”

January 23

Oxford Mail: Matthew Hart with his protest signMatthew Hart with his protest sign

At the protest there were a number of creative placards, you can check the photographs out here>>>

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