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Portsmouth Water’s maintenance team connected a mains site in the Tipner district for a government coronavirus testing site at very short notice working round the clock to mobilise resources and get the job done.
Chief executive Bob Taylor told Utility Week the way the team quickly found a solution to connecting the water up and avoided the original idea of tanks and water bottles.
“What I was really impressed with was how, unprompted, the team immediately started to look at ways in which we could provide a more resilient water supply solution which would make the lives of the people running the testing station easier. Straight away they wanted to help and understood the need to facilitate a better solution in quick time.”
He said this customer and community-centric ethos is ingrained in the company’s staff.
“As a relative newcomer to the business, it is something that is becoming even more apparent to me every day. This crisis has once again emphasised what a great team of people we have working for Portsmouth Water with a fantastic customer and community ethos.”
Although the job was not technically hard, the key challenge was time, with the team having to pull out all the stops in terms of planning and mobilisation of resources to get the job completed.
Taylor explained: “It was very short notice once we heard the site was planned – the initial idea was bowsers and water bottles. We felt we could do much better than that. We have already given our operational guys involved a big shout already internally but more than happy for more people to know.”
He said the work of Matt Davies, Darren Brown, Will Justice, Rod Musselwhite, Graham Calladine and Andy Hurst was a combined effort of “great work from a great team.”
Portsmouth completed the work free of charge to assist the wider efforts being made to combat the virus.
“We did this because it was the right thing to do and we have had a really positive response to our efforts from the local community, from the local MP and City councillors which is always much appreciated,” Taylor said.
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