Water supply woes in Molesey lead to calls for Thames Water nationalisation
Residents suffer weeks without water as MP urges government action
The “social contract” has been broken after businesses and residents were forced to live without water for weeks as problems mounted in the aftermath of the Thames Water mains leak in Molesey.
In September, a main burst spilling 750 litres of water every second into the Wilderness in West Molesey.
Thousands of homes around Esher and Molesey lost their supplies and schools in the area were forced to close while the utility company repaired the problem.
Water returned to some homes the same day while others still continue to suffered with dry taps or low pressure leading to the MP saying this must surely be the end of the road for Thames Water as a private company and called on the government to return it to public ownership.
Rosemary Road resident Dave Impett has said the community is fed up with the situation amid concerns lower water pressures could become the norm given the age of the pipes in the area.
He said: “They cut the pressure so it stops (shooting) out the pipes but my concern is that this lower pressure would become the norm.
“It feels like they would just lower the pressure to reduce the leaking rather than fixing the problem.
“We’ve had just enough pressure downstairs to fill a kettle but upstairs the pressure is non-existent. No showers or running water for a bath.
“And a lot of people have had it a lot worse than us.
“But we’ve had no showers for three or four days now because the pressure has been (so weak).
“We can’t use a dishwasher or the washing machine.”
He said you quickly realise how much one takes for granted something as simple as turning a tap on and there being water.
Mr Impett was also deeply critical about how the situation had been handled by Thames Water, particularly for the more vulnerable members of the community.
Despite the lack of water though there has been a coming together with people looking after neighbours, making sure they had bottled water if they were not able to go out and get their own.
He added: “There are people who don’t know what’s going on, people have been kept in the dark.
“Not knowing that you are going to have water from one minute to the next or if the pressure will fail.
“The social contract has been broken and there have been record price increases this year.
“The public has taken water responsibly, we’ve not used hoses, we use low water dishwashers and machines, water butts in our gardens. The contract with Thames Water has been broken.”
Monica Harding, MP for Esher and Walton said: “After half the residents of Esher and Walton had their water supply cut off a fortnight ago, I was promised by the company that the problems were fixed, yet two weeks later people are still facing shortages and pressure problems.
“Every day people pay the price for Thames Water’s dismal failure to invest in our crumbling water infrastructure.
“Businesses are being forced to turn away clients or close, while some residents struggle to fill a kettle, let alone a bath.
“This is the latest sorry episode in a shameful track-record of failures.
“The government must recognise that it has reached the end of the road with Thames Water.
“The company cannot be allowed to continue to inflict on customers such a sub-standard service.
“Thames Water must be placed into a special administrative regime and re-established as a public benefit company, to put the customer and the environment first and enable the proper.”
A Thames Water spokesperson said they were sorry for the continued low pressures but said it would improve now the repaired main has been reconnected to the network.
They said: “We have been carrying out final tests on the repaired section of the mains pipe before we brought it back into use on our network this afternoon.
“Testing included the quality of water flowing through the pipe while it was isolated from our network and these tests were successful.
“We would like to thank people for their patience during what has been a challenging repair.”
He said Thames Water, which made a post tax profit of more than £200m last year, had the oldest and most complex assets in the country, and that it was undergoing the biggest network upgrade in 150 years.
Last year the company invested £2.7 billion in its infrastructure, the equivalent of more than £7 million a day, and this included replacing 88km of ageing water mains while reducing leakage by 15.1 per cent.
He added: “We have now replaced more than 100km of water mains and we are also in a strong position accelerate the delivery of our biggest upgrade to more than £4bn for 2029/30.”