I see with disgust, but little surprise, that the London 'Super Sewer' has been given the go-ahead.

This multi billion pound project, much criticised as unnecessary by many experts, will cause huge disruption for many Londoners. Of perhaps more interest to many Surrey residents, and those of other counties bordering London, is that their already excessive water bills will rise by some £80 per year for an indefinite period to pay for something which does not benefit them!

Thames Water, who for some reason are responsible for the sewage treatment of millions of households outside London, say it is 'fairer' to spread the cost amongst all its customers. This is a privately and foreign owned company, paying dividends to shareholders. Its chief executive is on a salary of some £450,000 a year plus bonuses.

Readers may be interested to know that, unlike other utilities, water supplies cannot be cut off under any circumstances. There is a hugely convoluted legal process to try and force payment of bills, and the company has built up huge amounts of toxic debt from unpaid bills, which it tried to recoup by levying a one-off supplement on customers who do pay their bills! Fortunately, Ofwat quashed that.

I reckon that if every non-London household refuses to pay the Super Sewer Supplement, there isn't a lot Thames Water could do about it. They can then use their profits to pay for it instead....

Gerald Harvard

Kingston Road

Leatherhead

 



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