Thames Water may have shut down an emergency drought plant to save on energy costs, the local MP has said.
The desalination plant in Beckton, east London, has closed despite water shortages and a ban on hosepipes, the Telegraph revealed earlier this week.
The first hose ban comes into effect today for people living in parts of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which are supplied by Southern Water.
South East Water, which supplies parts of Kent and Sussex, will introduce a hose ban affecting 1.3 million people from next Friday, and Welsh Water has also announced a ban covering parts of West Wales the
George Eustice, the environment secretary, is understood to be on annual leave in his constituency of Cornwall, rather than Westminster, as the drought crisis intensified.
A spokesman said on Friday afternoon: “George Eustice is in his constituency of Camborne and Redruth but has been in contact with Defra political officers about the drought conditions and has held a meeting with the political team at 11am this morning.”
The Thames Water Plant, which is designed to take water from the Thames estuary and treat it to create drinking water, is out of action for maintenance, despite being included in the company’s plans to drought presented to the Environment Agency at the beginning of the year.
Desalination is energy intensive and requires electricity and heat. Electricity costs have risen by about 50 percent since last year.
“Very strange that he is out of action”
The plant costs more than ten times more to run than a standard treatment plant, the company said, at around £660 per million litres, compared to £45 per million liters for a standard plant.
Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, said: “I find it puzzling when it is clear that we are in a situation which is exactly the kind of situation that this plant was intended to help us in, it seems very strange that it is out of action.
“If it’s planned maintenance, are you sure you’re planning for a time other than when it’s most likely to be used?
“Is it because of the cost of electricity and they’re just not willing to pay for it and run it? In that case, obviously, they should tell us.”
In its draft drought plans setting out how the company plans to deal with low water supplies, Thames Water admitted the plant could only cope with two-thirds of its intended capacity.
The plant has been maintained only intermittently for the last 10 years of its life, including 2016 and 2018.
It has now completely stopped working and will not be available to help with water supplies this summer as the south east of the UK faces rapidly depleting water levels amid dry weather.
Capacity issues are believed to be due to the plant’s position in the estuary and the resulting varying salt levels.
The high flows of more than 100 million per day through the plant produced water with too much sediment, reducing the effectiveness of the disinfection process.
In documents released earlier this year, the company said that “demand management,” including the push for household water meters, public awareness of water-saving measures and management of leaks, would compensate for the lost capacity.
The current maintenance is focused on repairing pipes and electrical systems, the company said, as part of a planned £34m project.