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Thames Water will begin work to clear its sewer networks of concrete and find who was responsible for causing the damage.
Blockages caused by concrete being illegally poured into the sewer last summer have been kept at bay by the water company regularly pumping out as it prepared to excavate the area.
Teams working on the site at Hammersmith and Fulham will require specialist tools to break down the concrete. Once it has been removed, they will replace the affected sections of sewers, which is anticipated to take six weeks.
The dumping is being investigated by Thames’ third party team, which will seek to recover damages and costs for the mitigation, replacement and repair works.
“It’s very frustrating to see our customers suffer because of this mindless abuse of our network,” said Jamie Keech, area network manager at Thames. “This is not the first time we’ve seen damage caused by people pouring concrete into our sewers, which takes a great amount of resource to resolve.
“We are working to find those who have caused this disruption to local residents and businesses, and we’d like our customers to know we will work seven days a week with our contractors and the local authority to get the road re-opened again as safely and quickly as possible.”
Thames clears approximately 75,000 sewer blockages each year that are largely caused by sewer abuse such as illegal dumping of waste including concrete, improperly flushing wet wipes and other waste such as fats, oil, and grease (FOG). Last year, the company dealt with 279 blocks in Hammersmith and Fulham borough, of which 77% were caused by sewer abuse.
A spokesperson at Hammersmith and Fulham council said: “This illegally dumped concrete in the sewer poses a risk to local homes and businesses. We fully support Thames Water and their investigations into who is responsible for this wide-scale vandalism.”
Around £200 million is spent nationwide by water and sewerage companies to tackle blockages caused by wet wipes and FOGs.
These bind together in the cold pipes and drains, which can lead to problems in the network or even environmental harm including overflows.
Water UK is leading a campaign to inform consumers what can and cannot be flushed or disposed of down a drain. Despite widespread support for a ban of wipes containing plastic, the government has yet to issue a consultation on the issue.
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