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Sadiq
spent an evening with Thames Water in an effort to
understand what work goes into finding and fixing leakage
problems.
Recently the
Water Services Regulation Authority, or Ofwat, set Thames
Water a target of reducing leakage to 725 million litres a
day by 2009/2010. As of July, Thames Water were losing 894
million litres a day for the period 2004-2005, which was
outside Ofwat’s leakage targets. However, they have since
increased leak detection staff by 44% since 2004 and are now
repairing 20% more leaks than in 2004.
Thames Water has thirteen two-man teams
working to find leaks in Tooting. Currently, in Tooting
alone, Thames Water have fixed 1085 leaks so far this year.
Tooting’s
pipes are around 50 to 100 years old and so leakage reports
are amongst the lowest in London. Many pipes north of the
river need replacing, causing short term disruption for
residents. Fortunately, Tooting does not need such major
work.
Sadiq has
been working with Thames Water to find out more about the
work that goes on in the specialist team that determines
where the leaks are that need to be fixed. He has sought
assurances that Thames Water will continue to monitor pipes
in Tooting and replace any that are in disrepair.
Leaks can
also be detected by residents on their own pipes if they
notice low pressure when they turn on their taps, noises on
pipes when no taps are turned on and also greener grass in
certain areas of their lawns – which could possibly be a
leak under the lawn feeding a patch of the lawn much more.
It is
important that we all make an effort to save water -
the
amount of water that can be saved a day equates to over 350
swimming pools.
If anyone
wants to report a leak on their own property they can call
0845 9200 800.
If anyone
wants to report a leak on the street they can also call free
phone 0800 714 614.
Advice on
using water wisely is also available through the Thames
Water website at
www.thameswater.co.uk. People can also report a leak via
the website and check to see if they would benefit from
moving to metered payments.
Interesting facts
- Since
the hosepipe ban there has been an 8% drop in the amount
of water used. The 8% figure is for all use – homes and
businesses. This is beyond what was expected, which
means people have gone beyond just saving water via
their hosepipes
-
London has had close to average rainfall in July
and August. Since the
drought began in November 2004 there have been only two
months of above average rainfall.
It has
also had two consecutive dry winters. The winters are
usually when the ground water, that feeds the rivers,
can be stocked-up. This has not happened in two years
and so if we have a third consecutive dry winter it
would be severe.
- About
a quarter of the leakage quantity that is recorded are
leaks on customers own pipes, not the mains pipes. This
means that around 200 million litres of water that is
lost per day is on residents’ own properties. When this
is the case, the leaks are the responsibility of owner
of the property. Thames water, when checking for leaks,
can determine whether the leaks are within a residential
property and contact the owner with advice and services.
- In
June Thames Water applied to the Government for a
Drought Order, which would enable them to restrict
non-essential use of water. They have now withdrawn that
application because there has been close to average
rainfall since the application and a reduced demand from
customers.
-
This is not to say that the drought is
over. The immediate threat has receded, but the
underlying problem is still there; ground water levels
remain very low.
Information posted in October 2006 - information accurate at
this time
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