Thames Gateway Desalination Plant Sits Idle During Drought
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- Thames Gateway desalination plant in Beckton, east London — opened in 2010 at a cost of £250 million — is mainland Britain's only large-scale desalination facility and is currently out of supply due to damaged equipment, including its membranes.
- Thames Water's drought plan permits the plant to start operating once a drought is declared and flow at Teddington drops below 3000 Ml/d, but current flow is around 220 Ml/d — below even the reduced 300 Ml/d drought target agreed with the Environment Agency (normally 800 Ml/d).
- Thames Water says preparations are under way to bring the plant online by the end of 2026, if needed, to support reservoir recovery over the winter; the firm estimates it would take four to six weeks to ramp up to the plant's full 100 Ml/d capacity (about 4% of its daily supply).
- Thames Gateway has only ever run five times in its 16-year history, delivering the equivalent of seven days' worth of drinking water to London.
- The Environment Agency confirmed July 2026 was the driest July for the Thames area since records began in 1871, with just 1mm of rainfall for the entire month; a drought was officially declared in England on 29 July 2026.
- Anglian Water and South West Water are drawing up plans for new desalination plants in Norfolk and Lincolnshire (using North Sea seawater) and Par, Cornwall, respectively, as climate change drives more frequent droughts.
Why it matters: Britain's only large-scale drought insurance for London's water supply — capable of producing 100 Ml/d, about 4% of Thames Water's daily demand — has fired just five times in 16 years and is now sidelined during the UK's driest July since 1836. Thames Water says it can bring the plant online by year-end, with reservoir recovery over winter as the critical pressure point.
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