Ninety Miles of Leaky Pipes Replaced

The project, which started in 2005 and is due to finish in March 2013, will eventually see the replacement of 136 miles of pipe, stretching further than the M25, and supplying around 800,000 South East Londoners. The project is due to finish in March 2013.

Lawrence Gosden, Thames Water's head of capital delivery, said that this is a huge project and one that will benefit hundreds of thousands of people for decades to come. "We've replaced more mains in this part of London than anywhere else. While we apologise for the inevitable disruption work of this nature causes on the capital's roads, replacing old and leaking mains is essential as our water resources come under increasing pressure from climate change and population growth. Ideally we wouldn't have to do this work at all but the fact is London's water pipes are old and leaky and need replacing. We are doing everything we can to keep disruption to a minimum."

Mains replacement work is currently under way in Nunhead and New Cross Gate and around the Jamaica Road area of Southwark Engineers will then move on to areas around New Kent Road and Rye Lane for completion by March 2013.

In the past five years Thames Water has replaced 1,300 miles of leaky mains under the capital, cutting leakage by 27%. More than 20% London's water mains are over 150 years old, being the oldest in the UK, and more than 40% are over 100 years old.