As part of the city-wide ‘Open House London’ celebrations, Thames Water is opening some of their more elaborate hidden gems to the general public.
Places on tours can be booked now with the weekend the 22/23 September earmarked as the weekend the facilities will be open. Some of the sights which you could behold include:
Beckton Treatment works – the largest sewage treatment works in Britain, Beckton houses its own desalination plant and is the site of the Lee Tunnel excavation work. Visitors will be able to view the tunnel site and will be able to tour the facilities by bus.
Abbey Mills – This pumping station was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette and is described at the cathedral of sewage. It’s a Grade 2 listed building and has been used as a set for a number of high-profile Hollywood movies.
Thames Water’s access and recreation manager, John Liddard, said:
“With so many beautiful buildings that are hidden away from view or are simply inaccessible due to the busy day to day work that happens around them, this is a rare chance to get inside Britain’s biggest sewage works in Beckton, or to view the home of ‘Busy Lizzie’ the tunnel boring machine currently making its way under the ground in London to take away sewage which currently discharges into the River Lee.
“We’re really spoiled working along some amazing buildings and fantastic spaces, so opening up these places lets visitors get a glimpse of how lucky we are in our daily lives at Thames Water.”
Other sites open include the New River Head, Western Pumping Station, King George V Reservoir and Walthamstow Wetlands.