Thames Water apologises for burst pipe disruption

Thames Water will carry out a “full investigation” to prevent future disruption to customers after a burst pipe in Hampton caused water shortages across areas of west and south west London yesterday (12 June).

The company apologised for the inconvenience and confirmed supply has been restored to all affected customers.

Thames said engineers had been working “around the clock” to fix the 33-inch wide pipe, located 2.5 metres underground at its Hampton treatment works.

The incident left around 100,000 properties in the capital with little or no water, causing schools to close and hospital appointments to be cancelled.

Thames said it delivered hundreds of bottles of water to customers on its priority services list, including people with medical and mobility issues.

A spokesperson for the water company said: “Water supplies to all areas were restored yesterday evening and our plumbers have been visiting individual properties overnight and this morning to clear air locks from the pipes inside them.

“Engineers worked through the night on repairs to the burst pipe inside Hampton water works and that work will continue today.

“We’re really sorry for the inconvenience yesterday’s burst caused. We’ll be carrying out a full investigation so we can take steps to stop it happening again.”

Ofwat said it was pleased customers are now back on supply but warned that it expects Thames to “identify and understand the root cause of what went wrong”. The regulator said Thames should ensure that any fix that has been put in place “sticks”.

A spokesperson for Ofwat said: “We expect all companies dealing with situations like this to be doing everything they can to rectify the problem, to keep customers regularly informed and, in particular, to ensure those who might need more help get it.”

Labour’s London Assembly environment spokesperson, Leonie Cooper AM, added: “Time and again Thames Water have been warned that the leaks from their network are unacceptably wasteful, and that they are letting customers down with inadequate communication and compensation in emergencies.

“Just last week, my report Running Out or Flooded Out?, found that there have been over 26,000 burst pipes in London in the last five years. This latest incident only confirms that my concerns and those of Londoners are justified.

“Thames Water need to work with Ofwat and Defra to accelerate their leakage reduction programme, to cut leaks by 50 per cent by 2050, and urgently need to revamp their emergency response and communications strategies, not least for those affected by the burst pipe in South West London”.

Cooper’s report put forward several recommendations to the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. She also called for the construction of the proposed reservoir in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, which would create extra storage for millions of litres of water for London, to be accelerated to 2035, two years sooner than proposed.

“This would help to avoid a water crisis in London,” she said.

The recommendations included:

• The mayor should put pressure on water companies to protect and invest in London’s water supply
• The mayor should collaborate with water companies in London to conduct an awareness raising campaign to help Londoners save water
• The mayor should encourage water efficiency in London’s buildings
• The mayor should plan for London’s future water supply