Water bosses defended their progress in fixing problems in Islington when they were put on the spot by councillors fed up by the damage caused by a major leak this summer.
One businessman affected by this summer’s deluge when a water main burst at the junction of Tollington Road and Hornsey Road said: “It’s like a ghost town on Hornsey Road, we don’t know when its going to be back to normal. We want to know what Thames Water is doing to make sure it’s not happening again.”
He wanted assurances that water staff are working to prevent similar problems.
Thames Water is working on schemes including relining 2.1km of the pipework in the worst condition in Seven Sisters Road and Queens Drive, after the 125-year-old main burst in 2019.
The firm put up 13 residents in hotels and is working to put right damage at eight businesses after a 36 inch water main burst in Tollington Road on August 8.
Simon Moore, Thames Water’s head of water system planning for London, said: “We need to be working with the community, residents and stakeholders to try to build that trust.”
He told Islington’s policy and performance scrutiny committee that a third of Islington’s water network has been upgraded since 2020, “by London standards a significant proportion”.
Thames Water has installed 5,032 smart meters since 2015 in Islington and has more in the pipeline.
Mr Moore said it repairs an average of 226 mains bursts per year and a further 234 bursts on the ‘communication pipes’ to customers’ properties and 53 repairs to customers’ own pipework.
He said the company is replacing mains at several hotspots in Islington and plans more, with 6.8km of mains replacement nearing completion and another 2.5km due in the next two years.
Detailed designs for the Pentonville Road trunk mains are due later this year.
However councillors and residents spoke of the problems people are already experiencing.
Cllr Bashir Ibrahim, whose Arsenal ward includes areas affected by the latest flood, called on Thames Water to invest more of its profits into prevention of leaks.
He described helping to rescue a housebound resident when the main burst six weeks ago.
“If you see the impact on residents you would be as exercised as I am," he said, adding: “We need to make sure the best cure is prevention. Invest in your infrastructure."
Simon Moore replied: “We are hugely empathetic about it.”
A resident in Offord Road, Barnsbury, said she has been affected by three floods in three years and said the struggle to get damage made good has left her “broken”.
She said: “We know the drill, the fire brigade bang on your door at 5am, you wake your neighbours and get planks of wood.”
She said she was away from her home for two months after one of the floods, and talked about her frustration getting work done to put the damage right.
In response, Mr Moore said: “It is absolutely unacceptable the experience that you’ve had.”
He said the groundwater this year was “unprecedented” and there was also ground movement caused by dry conditions too.
Peter Baker, from Holloway Road, has been flooded several times in the last six years. He called for investigation into solutions as water is pushing manhole covers up when there is heavy rain, causing serious damage.
Jeremy Corbyn Islington North MP warned Thames Water is “simply not investing enough”, and said he fears “are we going to see a loss of life”.
Martin Padley, Thames Water’s director of water, said it is crucial to get investment right and said he was “mortified” to hear residents’ experiences.
He said: “We are truly sorry.”
He said climate change is also causing “very rapid changes”.
Cllr Una O’Halloran said: “We were promised investment.”
She said there were 14 meetings after the flood at Angel in 2016 and asked what the company has learnt since then.
Committee chair Jenny Kay said “people are really broken”.
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