A pile of rubbish as heavy as 15 double-deckers is clogging the River Thames, where a staggering 180 tonnes of rotting gunge is accumulating. A few years ago, a “Wet Wipe Island” has started to form in the river, threatening wildlife and embarrasing the capital. It’s now as large as two tennis courts, forming a rotting pile by Hammersmith Bridge in west London. The pile of wet wipes has formed an island along a 250-metre stretch of the river.
But now, works led by the Port of London Authority (PLA) in collaboration with Thames Water, are expected to remove the huge pile of wet wipes. The first-of-its-kind operation is expected to last up to a month to complete. By now, people tried to remove dirt from the river by hand. Volunteers have monitored the island since 2017, raising awareness about its harmful impacts to ecology and aquatic wildlife.
Wet wipes and other pollutants will be removed in skips for safe disposal. Residents have been increasingly concerned about the poor quality of water in the river, which hosted the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race. Water campaigners qualified water quality in the area as poor due to E coli from sewage pollution.
Mark Anderson, the PLA’s head of corporate affairs, told The Telegraph: “Frankly it is disgusting. We are just as frustrated as anybody, and have wanted to see this addressed for years.”
Residents in the area have also expressed frustration. An architectural designer whose office is just off the bridge, told The Guardian: “To be honest, it makes me emotional and frustrated that people are actually flushing their wet wipes instead of disposing of them correctly. It’s slightly embarrassing.”
The island even has a Google Maps listing recorded as a cultural landmark. Over the past eight years, volunteers have removed more than 140,000 wet wipes flushed into the river during storm overflow events. Thames Water clears 3.8 billion wipes from its network each year, costing £18 million annually.
Under fire for its handling of pollution, Thames Water has vowed to invest £9.5 billion (2022–23 prices) over the next five years to protect the environment and improve river health. Working alongside the Environment Agency, the utility is partnering with the PLA to remove the so-called wet wipe island. The Government also plans to ban wet wipes containing plastic.
