Thames Water says the benefits of the Teddington Direct River Abstraction, its first planned use of treated effluent to supply London, may be deferred from 2031 to 2035. Design changes at Mogden Sewage Treatment Works were larger than assumed and are "likely to affect both cost and programme."
How Teddington would work
The scheme would take up to 75 million liters a day from the Thames at Teddington in prolonged dry weather and replace it with effluent from Mogden, given further treatment in a tertiary treatment plant. The Environment Agency has yet to agree the design of the outfall and that plant. Thames Water expects to apply for development consent in early 2027 and still calls the scheme "relatively inexpensive" compared with alternatives.
Beckton is further off
The larger recycling options sit at Beckton Sewage Treatment Works, where Thames Water is investigating solutions of 100 to 300 Ml/d. Their benefits are estimated for 2037 to 2039, and the next water resources plan will reassess whether recycling at Beckton and Mogden is needed at all.
Demand fills the gap for now
Until recycled water arrives, London's drought resilience rests on using less. In 2025-26 household water efficiency saved about 23 Ml/d and business efficiency more than 21 Ml/d, both ahead of plan. Leakage remains the weak point: its three-year average was 15.1% below the 2019/20 baseline, against a 21.3% target.
How water recycling fits with Thames Water's sludge, energy and compliance programs, and which circular measures are likely to be funded before 2030, are examined in the full report. The full report, Circular Water Economy: Thames Water, is available for USD 499 at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/reports/circular-water-economy-thames-water. For a free overview, read the Thames Water Utility Snapshot at https://ourfuturewaterintelligence.com/utilities/thames-water.