Water works

I met representatives of Thames Water on 16th October at Westminster. I reviewed with them progress on water pipe renewal, flood prevention, and the adequacy of water supply.

I will be following up on the pipe renewal issues. They promised that they do now have ways of keeping more of the local roads open when carrying out replacement. They have some less intrusive ways of repairing pipes, which help when they can be used. They also have systems for placing plates over the holes in the road at busy times so the roads can be used at peak hours when works are underway.

 I urged them to use Wokingham as an example of how pipes can be placed under verges or away from the roads in new developments in in redevelopments, and asked them to work with the Council in Wokingham where opportunities were coming up for such schemes.

They agreed they do need to provide more water to cater for rising populations and water use. They are still considering an additional reservoir at Abingdon. New or repaired pipes will also help by cutting down on water loss.

 

4 Comments

  1. Tony
    October 18, 2012

    Hey John. What’s this thing thru the letter box from Thames Water saying the Water Bill is going up a hefty £80 per household to pay for renewal of London’s Victorian Drains? If you go to the website http://www.thamestunnelconsultation.co.uk all the work appears to be in central london. Surley this is a mistake? Wokingham is not even within the m25. Expect a full inbox if this goes ahead for Thames Water customers in your constituency!

  2. Tony
    October 18, 2012

    Further more, if you go to the website, from the thing sent thru the letter box and if you click to “feedback” the consultation is already over!!! I know most public consultations are merely a public relations exercise, but this is ridiculous. They cant even pretend to perform a consultation.

  3. Geoff Stanfield
    October 18, 2012

    Pleased you had a meeting with Thames Water, but surely much of Wokingham is supplied by South East Water?

    I also hope you conferred with your colleague Rt Hon Theresa May since, at my request, she has been communicating with CEO of Thames Water about repeated low pressure events in Woodley and Sonning which have been happening for five years or more.

    I fear your brief may have been too narrow. The technology which you describe has been in existence for many years, trenchless technology and insitu relining. The use of metal plates over holes to keep traffic flowing can be seen in action in Woodley and has been used by Gas groundworks contractors for some time.

    Reply: Yes, I have of course talked to South East water as well. Yes, the technology we were talking about has been tried and tested – the issue was the frequency of use and how it could be adapted to mroe situations. The importance of Thames to total water supply relates to the pressure issues you are worried about, which I used to pursue when I represented Woodley and Sonning.

    1. Geoff Stanfield
      October 18, 2012

      Thanks for confirmation that pressure issues in Woodley and Sonning have been ongoing for many years. I thought I must have been imagining them. Its a pity that customer services at Thames are not as knowledgeable. Could it be that each low pressure event is logged as a new incident and so does have to be reported to OFWAT. Surely not.
      I am now told remedial action is underway at Sheeeplands pumping station and may visit. I only hope that WDC planning take this problem into consideration when deciding on planning applications for infill developments.

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