Sewage horror for pensioners
Published 12 Jan 2012 17:30
AN ELDERLY couple were rescued from their Tilehurst home by firefighters when sewage flooded their front and back garden today.
The pensioners, who live in Honey End Lane, near the junction with the A4 Bath Road, called Dee Road fire crew at 10.30am when a blockage in the sewer forced raw sewage out of a drain and into their garden.
Firefighters spent more than three hours clearing the waste water, which did not enter their home, and Paul Southern, assistant chief fire officer, said: "The residents are elderly and were becoming very distressed. Usually, we will only attend when there is a risk of flooding affecting the electricity supply, but we treated this as a hazardous materials incident because the flooding was coming from a foul drain.
"The crew and officers did a good job and used the pump to clear to flooding away and into the foul drain. It took about an hour for the levels to fall.
Thames Water attended the incident from midday and spent more than four hours pumping the water out the garden and clearing the blockage.
Natalie Slater, spokeswoman for Thames Water, said: "Tangled tree roots that have grown into the sewer pipes in Bath Road caused a blockage that led to the flooding today. We are really sorry to anyone who has had to endure the misery of sewer flooding. Having cleared the blockage, we are now doing a full clean-up of the properties affected and the road.
"On January 6 we cleared a section of the pipe that we knew was at risk of blockage on this section of road, but unfortunately it appears the roots were causing problems further along. We are now clearing the rest of this pipe to try and prevent any other problems."
This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 12 Jan 12
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