RED-faced Thames Water bosses have admitted its “not acceptable” after a water leak into the road was spotted outside one of its OWN offices.
The blunder was spotted in front of their building in Slough, Berks an area where it has imposed a hosepipe ban.
Footage outside the building shows a manhole flooding out onto the street and running down a nearby drain around two metres away.
The provider put in place the hosepipe ban last Wednesday (Aug 24) with no end date in sight.
Fifteen million Brits are set to feel the impact of the restrictions as they are unable to use a hosepipe connected to the mains water supply.
Thames Water announced the ban earlier this month because water levels in its reservoirs were “much lower than usual.”
Despite this, a drain water leak is flooding the ground outside its office in Slough.
Footage filmed last Thursday (Aug 25) shows a constant current of water pouring from an overflowing manhole.
A witness said: “There was a water leak in front of a Thames Water building, in the same road.
“They have just introduced a hosepipe ban and are accused of not fixing leaks.”
The water provider said it aims to fix leaks as soon as possible but the captured one is thought to have been flowing for over a day.
The stream was said to be about two metres long and created a sizeable puddle of water unable to drain.
More than half of the damaged manhole was submerged in water.
Thames Water customers who want to take a dip in their paddling pool over the hot summer won’t be able to as part of the hosepipe ban.
The utility company has admitted that it leaks almost 24 per cent of the water it supplies.
The visible leak could have been caused by a number of factors.
These include old or weak pipes, natural wear and tear, temperature changes or changes in pressure on the pipes.
According to Thames Water, over 95 per cent of its leaks are never seen by customers because “they’re often smaller, underground and harder to find.”
It claims to fix a leak as quickly as possible by locating it, assessing it, planning its repair and then repairing it.
A leak is also present from a Google Street View image of the drains from 2016.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We know it’s not acceptable to be losing so much precious water and we’re doing something about it.
“It’s not going to be quick, but we’re making progress and we’ve met our target for the last three years to reduce leaks by 10 per cent.
“Our aim is to reduce our leakage by 20 per cent between 2020 and 2025.”
“We have 160 repair teams working tirelessly to fix leaks with activity taking place seven days a week and over 280 people working round the clock.
“And mainly overnight to detect leaks not yet appearing at ground level.
“We are repairing over 1,100 leaks per week – whether they are visible or hidden below ground.
“We prioritise repair work to ensure we focus on the bigger leaks first and importantly those affecting service to customers.
“We also have an extensive capital programme to help us fix more leaks in the future.
“In the next three years we will spend over £55million installing dynamic pressure management helping to modulate pressure across our network for varying demands, helping reduce leakage.
“And in the next three years we will spend close to £200million on replacing water mains.”
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