Didcot Sewage Treatment Works Visit

Guest blog by Catherine Blaxhall Chair of Oxfordshire Public Affairs Committee

Following a discussion with our Public Affairs team in Oxfordshire around the ‘End Plastic Soup’ resolution we decided to contact our local water supplier, Thames Water to ask if they were aware of the enormity and seriousness of the contamination of microplastic fibres and what, if anything, they were doing to help alleviate the problem. Waste water treatment centres play a vital role in the issue; tiny microplastic fibres are too small to be caught by their filters and are flowing into rivers and the sea where fish and other sea creatures are mistaking them for food. Waste water treatment centres also produce sludge from the process, which contain microplastic fibres that is then applied to farmland across the UK.

We decided to ‘go to the top’ and emailed their CEO and were very pleased to receive a reply the next day from their Senior Public Affairs Advisor who had been delegated to respond.  His response was so enthusiastic and positive. He had researched the WI and our previous campaigns before we spoke and clearly realised how beneficial working together could to both organisations – we had so much in common!

Henry suggested OFWI members meet himself and his colleague from the Thames Water Education Team at our local sewage treatment works in Didcot on 18 September to learn more about how waste water treatment centres work.

The day was designed to encourage us to think more about how we can change our own washing habits to play their part in tackling the problem, the impact of plastic and non-flushable objects, such as wet wipes, entering the sewage system and to learn more about how waste water treatment centres operate.

We were given a fascinating and insightful tour of the site and a presentation in the education centre explaining the process of filtering sewage from its arrival at the plant to clean water finally returning to the water course less than 24 hours later. On the tour we saw a whole skip load of congealed wet wipes and other objects inappropriate for flushing that had been caught in the process.

Filtering out the tiny microplastic fibres at sewage treatment works is not currently happening, but research is ongoing and it is hoped that, with pressure, sampling for microplastic fibres could become mandatory at waste water treatment centres to better understand the scale of the issue. The onus is on all of us to address the problem by washing our clothes at lower temperatures, washing full loads only, using liquid detergent and being more conscious of the amount of clothing we purchase and then dispose of.  

Everyone agreed that the visit had been fascinating and informative and not quite as aromatic as we had anticipated! It really helped us understand so much more clearly our own responsibilities in contributing to the problem and how by just making one minor change we can make a difference and influence change.