Forum Topic

burst water main

brentford high street closed due to burst water main by costcutter The Ham is flooded and road between The magpie and crown and Six bells

Sharon Allen ● 5718d28 Comments

The road looks ready to reopen soon but a suspicious amount of water pouring down the bridge outside the Six Bells - hopefully not another leak?

Jennifer Long ● 5708d

A response from Thames Water on their website information:Firstly, I would just like to take the time to apologise if this was misleading in anyway and if it had caused anyinconvenience to you. Due to the works being carried out we are working in TW7 along London Rd and alongBrentford High St in TW8. We are very grateful to you for highlighting this and amendments have now.The website now shows TW7/TW8.been made.

Jennifer Long ● 5708d

Just as an aside, did anyone notice a change in the water "taste" from just after the burst till Monday or Tuesday this week? Coffee tasted less pleasant, but then the "flavour" came back this week. Just curious if the water "source" after the burst was from a different reservoir/treatment station, and the switched back to the usual supply.Anyone else notice any difference?

Kevin Regan ● 5709d

There were reports on Heart Radio early yesterday morning that the High Street had reopened - a couple of hours later they apologised saying they had been misinformed by the Highways Agency.

Jennifer Long ● 5710d

Because they don't know their a***s from their elbows? No doubt this will get finished and then after a little while it'll go again!

Vanessa Smith ● 5711d

Still a huge hole in the road earlier on this morning.Why do Thames Water (http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/corp/hs.xsl/10176.htm) think the works are in TW7 and not the Brentford post code TW8?

Jennifer Long ● 5711d

I've just checked the Thames Water website at http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/corp/hs.xsl/10176.htmApparently the work is not expected to be finished until 22nd September - another 8 days!

Sarah Sharp ● 5712d

It was still closed yesterday.  It would be nice to have an update as to when it is expected to reopen.

Sarah Sharp ● 5712d

Can anyone advise if Brentford High Street is still blocked to vehicle traffic?

Steve Taylor ● 5712d

no vanessa nobody does

Robert A Field ● 5715d

Which just goes to show how stupid it was to privatise the untility services and much more. Next on the list Royal Mail, do they never learn?

Vanessa Smith ● 5715d

"so any costs and penalties simply "permeate" through back into OUR bills. Perhaps if the Gov't ensured that costs arising from negligence etc came first out of the Director's bonuses, then something would be done to bring these incidents down." Not quite true although if the general public don't take action that is generally what happens. However if negligence or general underfunding is shown, Ofwat would not necessarily allow such costs to permeate back to customers. Thus Thames Water's fear of legal action. 

Steve Taylor ● 5715d

That's part of the problem, Sharon, the Water Companies get their revenue from us, so any costs and penalties simply "permeate" through back into OUR bills. Perhaps if the Gov't ensured that costs arising from negligence etc came first out of the Director's bonuses, then something would be done to bring these incidents down. I hope I am wrong, but it seems that in the interval between repair and reinstatement of the road surface (about a week) then further checks on the condition of adjacent pipes could be carried out. This is not the first instance of a repair closely followed by further nearby failures, leading to the conclusion that this may have been spotted if more diligence had been applied. It seems we currently have a patch here another there and the pipe is simply too old to withstand anything like "normal" pressure, let alone increased demand.

Kevin Regan ● 5715d

Residents have had no information from councilors or Thames Water.When it happened the Fire Brigade were excellent very friendly and helpful offering assistance to people trapped,making sure people with small children were ok.They were very busy and had a lot of jobs to do issuing sand bags,pumping out the water and helping trapped people but still had the time to make sure residents were ok had supplies and be upbeat and friendly A different contrast to other agencies .There was no assistance from Thames Water whatsoever or any councilors .Thames water insurers were around but no one to answer basic questions about if water was safe or when we would be able to leave our houses .In fact when the water cleared there was still no one from Thames water checking on or informing residents it was up to residents to go and seek advice. Then the workers just said the water was fine to drink and that our shoes just may get muddy for a few days still no concern or apologyShall i expect an apology letter from Thames water about the inconvience,no probably just a higher bill

Sharon Allen ● 5716d

Why nothing from the ward cllrs giving residents the latest info.

Neil Chippendale ● 5716d

This is not the first time that the water pipe has burst at this location.  As someone else pointed out can Thames Water cope with all the additional properties in this area?  Who takes into account the resources/infrastructure? when developing large estates like that at Brentford Lock?  Will the next burst water main be a bit further up the road, near Holland Gardens estate?  And what about that huge development on the old Beechams site?  I must admit, I would find it amusing if the A4 suddenly became another canal.Adam, I thought that Thames Water dug up the roads a year or so ago to 'improve' on the sewage pipes.  I hope these pipes don't burst!

Anya Morris ● 5716d

http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/resources/images/1416633/?type=displayCopy and pastemore pictures appear on the "old brentford and Chiswick Times" website.

Jim Lawes ● 5716d

Remember the huge puddles that used to appear in Windmill Road North?  Blocked drains..but no-one knew if they were Ealing's or Hounslow's! The 5 years of getting soaked was fixed after these pictures were circulated.

Jim Lawes ● 5716d

picture from BBC London website.

Jim Lawes ● 5716d

This picture appears on the BBC London website.

Jim Lawes ● 5716d

It doesn't exactly reflect well on all the TW 'improvements' that resulted in Brentford being dug up lots over the last 18 months to 2 years does it ?.

Adam Beamish ● 5716d

I doubt whether Thames Water will admit to it, but there seems to be more than one common factor, here, not just the location (although heavy traffic vibration clearly has overstressed the pipe here) but also they seem to occur in the early morning.Is that due to people starting to go about their morning routine putting an increased demand on  pipes where the water demand has eased overnight?Can they not "pressure test" or check in some other way if more problems are waiting to occur near the section of pipe that has failed?It seems to me that when we had a pipe burst, the repair did no more than transfer the fault along the pipe so that it failed several more times.

Kevin Regan ● 5717d

Hugh James Solicitors have been acting for residents of Richmond and Hounslow in relation to claims against Thames Water concerning the Mogden Sewage Treatment Works. Residents who are victims of the recent Hounslow floods who are seeking advice should visithttp://www.hughjames.com/news_centre/news_library/2010/august/flooding_damage.aspxEven if residents are insured, there may be some expenses that won’t be recovered from the insurance company. There will also be a significant level of disruption and inconvenience caused over the next few weeks and months whilst repairs are carried out and residents may be entitled to compensation for this.

Steve Taylor ● 5717d

The Ham and surrounding area still flooded but water is going down slowly.Fire brigade doing an excellent job and very helpful!! The six bells got flooded and some of the nursery i believe and numerous cars still no access by foot as yet to The Ham.

Sharon Allen ● 5717d

From the LBH website:"Wed, 08 September 2010A major water main has burst in the Brentford area – which has resulted in the part closure of London Road.Traffic entering Brentford at Syon Lane or Half Acre is being diverted away from the area. The burst water main has been switched off. We are aware that many people will be experiencing low water pressure or have no water. Thames Water will be bringing bottled water to the site. We will provide location information once we receive it.If you or your property have been affected by this incident, Thames Water loss adjustors are on site and can be contacted on 0845 72 000 890. Traffic diversions are still in place and people should check Tfl.gov.uk before starting their journey.Brentford High Street is likely to be closed for at least 10 days as repairs need to be undertaken to the road and footway."I wonder if the council has learned anything from the burst water main at Busch Corner and thus do something proactive to reduce the inevitable traffic chaos that will once again descend upon the surrounding areas. I also wonder what the cost to the local economy will be?

Andrew Sibley ● 5717d

Perhaps the Syon ward councillors can give us an update on the situation via this forum??

Andrew Sibley ● 5717d

Is anyone nearby with an update on the flooding?  My son's nursery on The Ham was shut this morning but I'm not sure if it's because the nursery was flooded or the road was shut

Sarah Tonks ● 5717d

Again! Our water pressure has been iffy for ages and this particular spot seems cursed, no womder the traffic was awful this morning.

Vanessa Smith ● 5717d