Stockwell's and Hackney's Victorian Mains Replaced

Thames Water will spend the next two years replacing creaking cast iron
pipes in Stockwell, some of which are 150 years old, with tough, flexible plastic ones
under Kennington Oval and Prima Road, Brixton Road, South Lambeth Road and
Clapham Road and Stockwell Road.

Project manager Kathryn Moore said: "As well as reducing leakage by fitting
new pipes, we're redesigning the mains' layout, making it more efficient by
reducing the total length of pipework from 16 miles (25.9km) to 10.5 miles
(17km).

"Wherever possible, new pipes will be placed inside the old metal ones,
which means less trench-digging will be required, minimising disruption to
motorists and residents. Although the new plastic pipes are smaller, the
smoother surface ensures the amount of water carried through the pipe is
not reduced. They're also less susceptible to soil corrosion and traffic
vibrations than the old ones.

"The recent freezing weather? the coldest in 12 years - led to
two-and-a-half times the number of water main bursts we'd normally expect
across our supply area, including one particularly bad one on Brixton Road.
In very cold conditons water cools to below 5 degrees Celsius in our
reservoirs before flowing into our pipes, making the ageing cast iron
contract and in some cases break. The scheme in Stockwell will help prevent
this."

A drop-in session for local people to learn more about the project is
taking place between 4pm and 7pm on Thursday 29 January at Stockwell
Community Resource Centre, 1 Studley Road. Residents will also receive
letters informing them of what is going to happening.

Hackney

The Hackney renovatoin begins on 16 February to replace 4.9 miles (7.8km) of
worn-out Victorian water mains in the Clapton Park area of Hackney, East
London.

Thames Water will spend the next 16 months replacing cast iron pipes, some
of which are 150 years old, with tough, flexible plastic ones within the
boundary of Lea Bridge Road, The River Lea, Millfields Road, Mayola Road,
and Lower Clapton Road.

Project manager Tim Owens said: "As well as reducing leakage by fitting new
pipes, we're redesigning the mains' layout, making it more efficient by
reducing the total length of pipework from 4.9 miles (7.8km) to 4.1 miles
(6.6km).

A drop-in session for local people to learn more about the project is
taking place between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on Wednesday 28 January in a mobile
customer unit at the junction of Mildenhall Road and Lower Clapton Road, by
the pond. Residents will also receive letters informing them of what is
going to happen during the scheme.