Fears over anti-flooding device take-up
Friday June 25, 2010
Only six out of every ten residents are protecting themselves from basement sewer flooding due to fears over falling house prices and rising insurance premiums.
Thames Water wrote to the owners of the 600 homes in the borough that are most at risk of basement sewer flooding to offer free anti-flooding devices earlier this month. But, despite the fact that some of the properties have been flooded four times since 2004, take up of the offer is ‘not as high as it could be’, according to the water company.
Speaking to a packed room of residents – at a meeting at the town hall last Monday (June 21) – Thames Water Sustainability Director Richard Aylard said: “We have started the process of inviting customers, who are at the highest risk of flooding, to have a device to protect their properties installed free of charge but take up is only at about 60 per cent so far.
“We plan to start installing devices in August and will be chasing up the residents who are yet to respond to our offer.”
Residents from Askew Road, Boscombe Road, Greyhound Road, Hammersmith Grove and Parsons Green all spoke up at the meeting with some criticising the poor communication from Thames Water, which could also explain the poor take-up.
Resident John Brady, Chairman of Hammersmith Terrace Residents’ Association, said: “We have had several of these borough-wide overview meetings but the only thing that my neighbours and I really want to know from Thames Water is the specific actions that they plan to take on our street. The same thing goes for people in Askew Road, Boscombe Road, Greyhound Road. Thames Water also needs to maintain a proper dialogue with residents outside of these meetings and improve their communication with individual groups.”
The devices, which are free and take about ten days to install, prevent sewage ‘back-surging’ into basements in times of heavy rain and allow the property’s sewage to flow properly into the sewer network. Some home owners are understood to be wary of accepting the offer to install the device as they believe it will affect their insurance premiums and possibly their house price. But Thames Water said the devices will reassure insurers and potential buyers that homes on the Fulham flood plain are protected.
Steve Kavanagh, from Jung Pumpen – the company that makes the anti-flooding devices, said: “Fitting a burglar alarm reassures insurers that a home is protected in high crime areas. If an anti-flooding device is fitted in an area at risk of flooding insurers are also reassured.”
The 600 anti-flooding devices are the short-term measure to minimise basement flooding in the borough. In the longer-term, Thames Water needs to build new sewers to increase the capacity of the Counters Creek network which covers much of the borough's sewer system.
Counters Creek is an old tributary of the Thames, which the Victorians incorporated into the sewer system and now flows underground. The network handles the majority of the borough’s sewage during heavy rainfall, as well as a large amount of storm sewage from as far away as Camden and Brent. The lack of capacity in the current system means that sometimes foul water ends up flooding into basements of low-lying properties. However, Thames Water says the earliest they can start building sewers to relieve the creek is 2014 and even then the larger sewers will not be complete until 2023.
Cllr Nick Botterill, Cabinet Member for Environment, says: “For many residents the installation of the first anti-flooding devices in August cannot come soon enough. Some residents have endured the horrors of basement flooding three of four times since 2004 and it is good news that some people are being offered help.
“However, it is clear that Thames Water need to communicate more effectively with residents and take a more personal street-by-street approach to talking with affected homeowners.”
Report flooding now!
If you have been flooded at any time over the past few years call Thames Water on 0845 920 0800.
