Burst main gushed for four hours

Published 7 Jan 2009 17:00 0 Comments

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ANGRY residents say flooding from a burst water main which wrecked a community centre could have been prevented if engineers had responded sooner.

They reported water gushing from the burst pipe in Wilderness Road, Earley, immediately at around 8am on Sunday [4] but despite further frantic calls Thames Water did not shut it off for nearly four hours.

Neighbours watched helplessly as a torrent of water flooded three homes, a doctor's surgery, the BP garage forecourt and Our Lady of Peace Community Centre and Social Club as well as damaging the road surface.

Richard Munday, 49, said he first called Thames Water at 8am, and his wife rang again an hour later to be told his call had not been logged.

At 9.50am a Thames Water workman arrived and went away, and the same thing happened at 10.30am. It was nearly midday when engineers finally turned the water off.

Mr Munday added: "What really cheesed me off is, knowing how cold it was last night, there were apparently two people on duty for the whole of Reading and one of them was ill. The chap who turned up at 9.50 came from Guildford. I think that is abysmal."

He said: "To my mind, this could have been prevented completely if there had been a decent response in place. This has just been atrocious."

He added: "The fire brigade and police have been brilliant -they've done all they could."

The fire brigade was called out at 9.47am and 30 firefighters raced to divert water from 100 homes.

Fire brigade incident commander Jess James said: "I am especially pleased with the all the fire crews for how well they did in quite challenging circumstances with the cold. They were handling water at at least -2 to -3 degrees Centigrade for long periods of time."

Dr Rajen Chadha of Wilderness Road Surgery said: "When I arrived the drive and porch were was all flooded - it made me very tearful."

Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church escaped damage but its popular Community Centre and Social Club was not so lucky. The hall is used daily by children, elderly and disabled groups, and manager Cedric Dias, 66, said: "The whole place is an absolute mess. I feel sorry for the people who've booked the hall."

Thames Water spokeswoman Amy Dutton said: "A burst water main on Wilderness Road was reported to us at 9am on Sunday morning. Our engineers were on site as quickly as possible and the main was shut off by midday.

"We would like to apologise to all those affected by the burst. Wilderness Road is now fully open and our engineers will remain on site for the next couple of days to reinstate the road."

She added: "The current freezing conditions followed by subsequent thaws make bursts on water mains more likely. Water expands when it freezes and the ground contracts and expands too, putting added pressure on our pipes."

This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 07 Jan 09

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