Basement flooding solution
Friday May 14, 2010
Thames Water is finally taking action to prevent some basement flooding in the borough following consistent lobbying from residents and the local council.
Water regulator Ofwat agreed that water bills should go up to pay for improvements to the local sewer system in November 2009. However Thames Water says the earliest they can start building sewers to relieve Counters Creek, which is the long-term solution to minimise basement flooding, is 2014.
In the short-term 600 at risk homes will have anti-flooding devices which are know as flooding local improvement projects (FLIPS) installed. The FLIPS prevent sewage ‘back-surging’ into basements in times of heavy rain and allow the property’s sewage to flow properly into the sewer network. The FLIPs will be installed in selected properties from June. Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council has welcomed the move but is pushing Thames Water to extend the programme to all properties affected by basement flooding.
The council is concerned that Thames Water has admitted that there are 1,400 homes on their flooding risk register and computer modelling shows 7,500 properties potentially at risk of flooding during a ‘one in ten’ year rain storm.
Cllr Nick Botterill, H&F Cabinet Member for Environment, says: “It is good news that 600 homes are going to be protected from the hell that is basement sewer flooding. But we want all potentially affected homes to be protected. Thames Water is right to be addressing residents’ concerns but should be concentrating on the affected areas rather than a limited number of homes reported to them on their risk register. In the short-term the harsh reality for many residents is that Thames Water is going to solve less than half the basement flooding problems under their current plan.”
Some residents – especially in Askew Road, Boscombe Road, Greyhound Road and Hammersmith Grove – have seen their basements flooded three of four times since 2004 and Thames Water are still to release details of where the FLIPs will be installed.
Cllr Botterill continues: “It cannot be right that the homes selected for FLIPs will be done on a property to property basis rather than street-by-street. The inconsistent approach from Thames Water will lead to neighbouring properties be treated differently and ultimately some families will be forced to endure the nightmare of basement flooding again just because they we not on the right database.”
In the longer term, Thames Water say the capacity of the Counters Creek sewer network needs to be increased to solve the vast majority of basement sewer flooding in the area.
Counters Creek is an old tributary of the Thames, which the Victorians incorporated into the sewer system and now flows underground. The Counters Creek sewer network handles the majority of the borough’s storm water and sewage, as well as a large amount of storm water from as far away as Camden and Brent. The lack of capacity in the current system means that sometimes foul water ends up flooding low-lying properties.
By constructing new sewers in the longer term the capacity of the network will be increased, which will take upstream storm water sewage away from the Counters Creek network and thereby reduce the risk of flooding. The £440 million scheme will take a minimum of nine years to develop and build.
For more information on the Counters Creek scheme visit: www.thameswater.co.uk/counterscreek (opens new window).
Report flooding now:
If you have been flooded at any time over the past few years call Thames Water on 0845 920 0800.
