Stinking ‘wastewater’ discharging into Kettering’s Slade Brook, that had been spilling into the stream for three months, has been revealed to have been coming from toilets in the town centre.

The 24-hour operation to suck pollution from a Kettering river that started at the start of July, finished this week after tankers used to suck up the contaminated ‘water’ were stood down.

Contaminated 'wastewater' from Kettering town centre had been spilling into the tributary of the River Nene that feeds into local lakes and rivers.

Dodgy sewer connection causes smelly 'wastewater' to spill into Kettering river

The tankering operation in Meadow Park, Kettering to suck up sewage from the Slade Brook started in the summer/IMG

Anglian Water admitted their investigations had identified dodgy ‘third party’ sewer connections feeding into the surface water drains were to blame for the smelly waste that poured into the brook.

Green councillors for the town centre were told Anglian Water had traced the surface water pipes from the brook up into the town centre and found that two businesses had misconnections from a sewer pipe connected to a surface water pipe.

The Kettering Central representatives said: “The businesses were engaged straight away and were asked to stop using the staff facilities - toilets and sinks - neither had facilities for the public.

“In order to protect the brook and environment from the chance of further contamination, the tankers arrived and have been on site around the clock since.”

Tankers were stationed in Meadow Park 24-hours a day/IMG

It is understood one of the businesses has rectified their pipe connection but the other business may take longer due to their ‘location and setup’.

Over the summer, a pungent pong had been coming from the brook that runs along much of Northfield Avenue with a tanker contracted by Anglian Water stationed in Meadow Park sucking up the effluent oozing from a rainwater drain that was dammed with sandbags to prevent further contamination.

Investigators use highly concentrated, non-toxic dyes to track and monitor flows through the drainage systems to identify the source – and take action.

In July, an Anglian Water said tankers were being used as a ‘precautionary measure’ to take away wastewater in order to protect the local environment while those responsible work to resolve the issue.

Mitigation measures taken by Anglian Water include tankers with a 19,000 litre (4,180 gallons) capacity at the site to stop any ongoing pollution.

The tanker hire is understood to be at least £1,600 a day for the 24-hour service that includes disposal of the contaminated water at nearby sewage works – the cost of the clean-up operation is estimated to have cost in the region of £134,000.

Responding to concerns including one raised by Kettering resident Brian Dodds, the Environment Agency confirmed the end of the tankering operation.

The agency said: “The incident was previously reported by another customer on July 7, 2026 and logged. Tankers were being used to mitigate the impacts of third-party misconnections into the surface water network which have since been resolved. The tankering has finished. The incident was closed down as a category three minor impact to water quality.”

Category three pollution incidents are classed as having a ‘minor or minimal impact on the environment, people, or property’.

The Slade Brook water body currently is classed as having ‘moderate ecological status’ according to Environment Agency data. with the most recent data reported in 2022 at the testing point downstream from Meadow Road close to Pytchley Road and Tesco Extra.