The underground pipes, stretching the equal of a fifth of the Aylesbury Ring, have been swept since April final yr utilizing a spread of strategies, from hi-tech digital camera know-how as half of the corporate’s digital revolution at hand instruments on probably the most cussed blockages.
The work was half of a file cleansing programme throughout the Thames Valley and London, which noticed 1,500km of sewers inspected and cleared to make sure they will safely take away the wastewater of hundreds of thousands of clients with out being blocked by obstacles like fatbergs.
Working with companions together with Lanes Group, McAllister Group and OnSite, and regardless of the disruption brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Thames Water’s big haul included a record-breaking 190km in February alone.
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The water firm has now set an formidable goal of 2,300km subsequent yr, the equal of a sewer stretching from London to Athens, with nearly 16km of sewers in Aylesbury as a consequence of be cleared by the top of 2021.
Matt Rimmer, Thames Water’s head of waste networks, stated: “Despite not being probably the most glamorous job, battling fatbergs and different blockages in our sewers is completely important in making certain we’re in a position to safely take away the waste of our hundreds of thousands of clients.
“Once once more we’ve carried out a file quantity of cleansing this yr however we aren’t stopping there and have formidable plans to go even additional to maintain our sewers flowing as easily as potential to assist shield our clients and the atmosphere.
“Sewers may be disagreeable locations and a few of the issues we discover in our pipes spotlight simply how essential it’s to make sure nothing will get in there that shouldn’t. We urge all our clients to solely flush the three Ps – pee, poo and bathroom paper – in addition to binning fat and oils moderately than pouring them down the sink.”
The important work included utilizing excessive powered water jets to blast away blockages and highly effective vacuums to suck them out.
Engineers even had to make use of hand instruments to interrupt down some of the extra steadfast blockages and carried out in depth surveying of the sewers, together with utilizing distant cameras connected to small floating barges, to assist determine any blockages or defects.
Areas the place sewers have been cleaned have seen inner flooding and pollutions halve in the final yr, whereas emergency blockage clearances went down by nearly one-third.
Next yr’s programme will see engineers clear a median of 192km of sewers each month, equal to the space from London to Newport in Wales.
Kirsty James, deliberate upkeep supply supervisor for Lanes, has been shortlisted for Woman of the Year in the Water Industry Awards 2021 after bettering working practices throughout the programme. This included altering shift patterns, bettering information use, a devoted recruitment and coaching programme, and staff and particular person awards for hitting targets.
She stated: “We can’t wait to get began on the brand new 12-month programme. Every yr, we enter unchartered territory in phrases of the hassle wanted to attain goal however we’re very motivated to succeed.
“This is an built-in staff effort that’s delivering improbable outcomes for patrons.”
Thames Water cleared a complete of 900km of sewers in 2019/20, a 50% improve on the earlier yr’s complete and 3 times increased than in 2017/18.
Thames Water’s annual ‘Bin it – don’t block it’ marketing campaign provides steerage to clients on methods to keep away from inflicting sewer blockages and recommendations on safely disposing of fat and oils or toiletries.
