Thames Water: water mains bursts happen more often than usual in Swindon
Bosses from the water firm met with councillors earlier this week
The number, severity and frequency of significant bursts of water mains in Swindon has been increasing and it is ‘not normal or expected’ councillors have been told.
And bosses at Thames Water, who had been invited to speak to Swindon Borough Council’s Scrutiny Committee, that they could not find a single underlying cause for this.
The frequency of the mains leaks had led to the water company being invited to address the b committee and ask questions, and the session started with public questions.
Charles Drew, the headteacher of Commonweal School in Old Town said the school had suffered a total disruption to its water supply twice in the last 12 months, one in September and one in May and had to scramble to tell families to keep their children home and to provide improvised online learning.
The regional head of the clean water network Dave Haydon apologised for the disruption.
Former councillor Bob Wright asked about discharges of sewage into the River Ray and said: “It’s counted by length of time and the number of discharges, but do you monitor it by volume of the discharge. If it’s an hour, is it a trickle, or a major gush.
“It makes a difference, and the public would be more able to judge the seriousness of it.”
He was told that the volume of sewage discharges was not recorded.
The water company’s directors gave a presentation on all aspects of the company’s work in Swindon, its assets dealing with sewage and waste water, ground water and how it provides fresh water to homes.
Speaking about the breaches of water pipes since the once which shut County Road in May 2023, Mr Haydon said of seven main incidents that different types of pipe were involved; four were UPC plastic pipes, two were cast iron mains and one a glass reinforced plastic main.
Chairman of the committee, Councillor Dale Heenan said: “It’s a concern that it’s not normal, and you don’t know why it’s happening.
“What are you doing to get to the bottom of the matter?”
Mr Haydon said: “We know why each bust happened – what we can’t find is any commonality, and a single underlying cause, but it isn’t normal or expected and we are continuing to look into it.”
There was a discussion of whether the heavy clay soil in some parts of Swindon gets waterlogged in winter and dries out quickly in warm weather and whether this caused movement in the spoil, stressing the water pipes.
As 9pm approached, three hours after the start of the meeting, the subject of the company’s work on the Fleming Way Bus Boulevard development still hadn’t been reached, and Cllr Heenan asked the committee whether it wanted to continue or invite the water company’s staff back again at a later date.
The cabinet member for highways and the environment Councillor Chris Watts said: “I’ve got quite a lot to say about this.” His suggestion that the committee ask Thames Water back to discuss Fleming Way in detail was accepted.