KS3/GCSE Geography: River Thames Tideway project

Paul Whitehouse visits the construction site of the River Thames Tideway project in London.

London relies on a 150-year-old sewer system that was built for a population less than half its current size. As a result, around 40 millions of tonnes of raw sewage spills, untreated, into the River Thames each year.

The Tideway Project is a major development programme for the River Thames that will be operated by Thames Water to combat this problem. 24 of these systems need to be upgraded, including Greenwich.

In Greenwich alone, without Tideway, 8 million tonnes of untreated sewage are dumped into the River Thames each year.

Tideway has been designed to intercept and divert this excess untreated waste to the waste treatment plant at Beckton.

The design life is for 120 years and this should keep pace with the growing population of London.

However, OFWAT (Office for Water Services) has no plans to build more super sewers of this nature to alleviate the stress on other UK river systems.

This video is part of UK rivers case studies, a series of clips taken from Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers – available on BBC iPlayer.

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Teacher Notes

Before watching the film:

  • Using digital mapping software such as Digimaps, Arc GIS, or Google Maps, locate the River Thames and zoom into the London region.
  • Looking at Greater London on the map, discuss the likely pressure from the city’s population, on the River Thames before it flows out to sea.
  • Recap the population of London (8.797 million in 2021) and ask students to say where the sewage goes to from this large population.
  • Do students think it is all treated before being returned to the environment? If not, ask them to hazard a guess as to how many tonnes of sewage from London are released untreated into the Thames each year. Ask students to write down their estimate before watching the film.

During the film:

  • You may wish to stop at relevant points during this short film to pose questions and check understanding or wait until the end. Useful questions might include:
    • How many tonnes of untreated sewage are released into the Thames in London each year? (Before Tideway becomes operational)
    • How many tonnes of untreated sewage are released each year just from Greenwich alone?
    • When were the existing sewers built in London?
    • Why have they not been upgraded before now to cope with the growing population?

Following on from the film:

  • Ask students to discuss their reactions to the film and the revelation of 40 million tonnes of untreated sewage being released into the Thames each year.
  • Investigate the scale of Beckton water treatment works, using the Tideway project website and other sources.
  • How much land does it take up and can it be found on the map? Students could use a digital mapping programme to measure the area currently used for treatment works.
  • Using the Tideway website and other sources, gather data and create an infographic about the project.
  • If this ‘super sewer’ is urgently needed in London, where else do students think it may be needed? Ask students to identify other locations using annotated maps.
  • Compare this solution to sewage treatment with that of other countries. How well do other major cities dispose of their sewage?

Curriculum Notes

All these short clips build on students’ understanding of human and environmental interactions and provide opportunities to practice geographical skills such as enquiry, mapping and fieldwork.

At KS3, students can learn more about how human and physical processes interact to influence, and change landscapes, environments and the climate.

At KS4, the film supports understanding about fluvial environments, flooding hazards and climate change, environmental management and fieldwork investigation.

This film develops understanding of economic activity and natural resources (KS3), and supports students in researching and debating ethical issues in geography (KS4).

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Further clips from Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers

A look at the background to the privatisation of ten regional water authorities in 1989.

Water industry privatisation

Paul visits the River Wharfe in Ilkley, West Yorkshire to see how it is affected by pollution from sewage.

River Wharfe and wastewater systems in the UK

Paul visits Lake Windermere to hear how tourists may be contributing to pollution levels.

Lake Windermere eutrophication

Paul visits the River Tamar in Devon to hear about a project that aims to let nature restore ecosystems.

Beavers and rewilding in the UK

Paul visits the River Clyde in Glasgow to hear about pharmaceutical pollution and its consequences.

Pharmaceutical pollution in the River Clyde

Paul visits the River Ribble in Lancashire to look at biodiversity monitoring and a project that is putting meanders back into the river.

River monitoring and 're-wiggling' on the River Ribble

Paul learns about how microplastic pollution affects the River Tame in Greater Manchester.

River Tame microplastic pollution

Paul visits Hampshire to look at a very rare habitat – England contains 85% of all chalk streams in the world.

River Test and UK chalk streams

Paul looks at how agricultural pollution is affecting the River Wye.

Intensive chicken farming and the River Wye
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