Thames Water Attacked For 'Tardy' Response To Flooded High Road

Local anger against the water company for not acting more quickly

The scene after the tree was felled (image- Hounslow Council)

Thames Water has been criticised for the delay in resolving the flooding from a burst water pipe on Chiswick High Road. The local MP Ruth Cadbury, councillors, traders and residents have all slammed the response of the water company which left a busy high street and side roads under inches of water for the best part of a week.

Chiswick High Road was closed on Friday (15 December) to allow a large oak tree to be felled to enable work on the main to proceed. The road reopened on Saturday after substantial traffic delays had resulted in the area. Thames Water have said that it is unlikely they will need to close Chiswick High Road again unless there are any undiscovered issues. At the time of writing Windmill Road remains closed.

From the first report last Sunday morning of the leak which originated under a tree outside Carvosso's, until the problem was mainly resolved on Saturday, there was flooding which spread along the High Road to Elliott Road and beyond.

Following the freezing temperatures Sunday night, a large patch of black ice developed, which resulted in at least two accidents, once when a motorcyclist came off his bike and a second when a cyclist was injured. A local trader at the fruit and veg stall described the scene as "carnage" from people slipping on the ice. A nearby chemist had to help out, and London Ambulance was twice called to the scene. There were no major injuries reported.

After the thaw, water continued to pour down the street and into surrounding roads, car park spaces were waterlogged and unusable, and the pedestrian crossing had to be taped off. Traders continued to complain that their tweets and calls to Thames Water did not yield any result for several days.

Ruth Cadbury raised the matter at a high level with Thames Water, as did Hounslow Council leader Steve Curran, prompted by councillor John Todd. The Brentford and Isleworth MP queried why a pumping lorry had not been sent to the scene to draw off the gushing water.

John Todd described it as "a scene from a medieval site with people stepping into water trying to cross the street" and criticised the "tardy response of Thames Water" saying at one point it looked as if Elliott Road was going to be completely flooded.

Image from Hounslow Council Twitter account

On Friday, the large oak tree was felled to allow Thames Water engineers to access the burst water main, which serves several hundred homes, but the delay in taking action caused local anger. A section of the High Road was closed off on Friday morning to allow the tree to be felled, and diversions were put in place around Chiswick, which caused lengthy traffic and bus delays.

Leader of Hounslow Council Steve Curran and local councillor John Todd were at the scene and commented, "It's a shame to see such a marvelous tree being felled. Thames Water have promised to replace the tree. This emergency work had to be carried out because of a major burst water that feeds thousands of homes."

The nearby stalls selling fruit, vegetables and flowers, were still able to operate during the works - pedestrian access was allowed once the tree was felled, but the stallholder said he had lost a lot of business during the week.

A spokesperson for Thames Water told Chiswickw4.com that it was a complicated job due to the location of the pipe and the number of homes it supplies - so it had to be done at night time on Friday.

The tree during the week

MP Ruth Cadbury was told by Thames Water that they had been unable to completely shut off the main without leaving a significant number of properties with no water or low pressure. Their spokesman said that they had throttled back the water as far as possible to reduce pooling and had wastewater contractors clear roadside gullies to help the water drain away.

Councillor Todd said, "Thames Water have been grossly tardy in their response to this leak. People were at the point of being flooded in Elliott Road. I had spoken to Cllr Curran about this and he had expedited Hounslow Highways to clear gullies which had minimised but not eliminated surface water. The situation caused material inconvenience to the public and local businesses."

One trader at the fruit and veg stall said, "I was here all day every day and I didn't see anyone from Thames Water come despite the fact I reported it twice last Sunday. I've definitely lost customers. It's a disgrace. People have said to me 'it's ridiculous, you wouldn't see it left like that in other countries.'"

Elliott Road on Thursday

After the thaw on Monday, water flowed from the burst pipe (outside Carvosso's), along the High Road and pooled in Elliott Road outside the restaurants and down to the junction with Chardin Road. A spokesman for one of the businesses told us it hadn't been very easy to continue business. Parking spaces had also been lost due to several inches of water.

Council workers twice cleared the gullies on Elliott Road and the water level dropped on Friday.

Image - Stephen Foster

Local antiquarian bookshop owner Stephen Foster was furious when we spoke to him earlier this week.

"There were people falling over, left, right and centre. With the freezing temperatures the water turned into black ice. An ambulance had to be called twice.

"This has done for business the past couple of days. Police have cordoned off the crossing because of the accidents on the black ice this morning so we haven't had as many customers."

Image - Stephen Foster

December 15, 2017