INTREPID Thames Water engineers have cleared almost 20km of sewers in Reading over the last year, helping protect customers and the environment from flooding.

The underground pipes, stretching the equivalent of five loops of the IDR, have been swept since April last year using a range of techniques, from hi-tech camera technology as part of the company’s digital revolution to hand tools on the most stubborn blockages.

The work was part of a record cleaning programme across the Thames Valley and London, which saw 1,500km of sewers inspected and cleared to ensure they can safely take away the wastewater of millions of customers without being blocked by obstacles like fatbergs.

READ ALSO: Police car seen 'mowing down' runaway cow in Woodley

Working with partners including Lanes Group, McAllister Group and OnSite, and despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Thames Water’s huge haul included a record-breaking 190km in February alone.

The water company has now set an ambitious target of 2,300km next year, the equivalent of a sewer stretching from London to Athens, with more than 25km of sewers in Reading due to be cleared by the end of 2021.

Matt Rimmer, Thames Water’s head of waste networks, said: “Despite not being the most glamorous job, battling fatbergs and other blockages in our sewers is absolutely vital in ensuring we’re able to safely take away the waste of our millions of customers.

“Once again we’ve carried out a record amount of cleaning this year but we aren’t stopping there and have ambitious plans to go even further to keep our sewers flowing as smoothly as possible to help protect our customers and the environment.

“Sewers can be unpleasant places and some of the things we find in our pipes highlight just how important it is to ensure nothing gets in there that shouldn’t. We urge all our customers to only flush the three Ps – pee, poo and toilet paper – as well as binning fats and oils rather than pouring them down the sink.”

The vital work included using high powered water jets to blast away blockages and powerful vacuums to suck them out.

Engineers even had to use hand tools to break down some of the more steadfast blockages and carried out extensive surveying of the sewers, including using remote cameras attached to small floating barges, to help identify any blockages or defects.

READ ALSO: Leonardo DiCaprio 'unrecognisable' tweet mocked by Reading museum

Next year’s programme will see engineers clean an average of 192km of sewers every month, equivalent to the distance from London to Newport in Wales.