Thames Water has just completed a thirteen week sewer project at a site in Abingdon to stop sewage spills into a nature reserve.

The site in Abingdon, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), has seen a sewer pipe that travels under Dry Sandford Pit burst on a number of occasions over the last few years. To remedy the problem, Thames Water has installed a new plastic and concrete sewer three miles northwest of Abington away from the rare fenland habitat.

The £800,000 project undertaken by the water company had to receive the go ahead from the MoD and Natural England before commencing.

Thames Water project manager, Andrew Popple, stated:

“This is really great news wildlife and for residents. The new sewer pipe will help prevent flooding to the SSSI land in the future, which will be a great benefit to everyone who enjoys visiting, or live near to, this lovely spot.

“Sewer flooding at people’s homes is a truly miserable experience and getting rid of it is our top priority. Our new sewer pipe will help prevent this.”

The Senior Oxfordshire Reserves Manager for the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), Martyn Lane stated:

“Dry Sandford Pit is a BBOWT nature reserve of national importance. This is a fragile and rare fenland habitat supporting species such as the southern damselfly and marsh fragrant orchid and hundreds of marsh helleborine all of which depend on excellent water quality.

“Few other places in Britain have such a remarkable combination of habitats, so it’s good news that Thames Water has completed this work to prevent potential damage from storm sewage spills.”

The London Wetland Centre has just opened a brand new exhibit sponsored by Thames Water, a giant sewer complete with fat deposits and unnerving odours.

Located in Barnes, which is but a stone’s throw from Hammersmith, the Wetlands Centre is a brilliant educational day out for all the family.

The recreation of a working sewer allows visitors to the Wetland Centre to walk through a section of trunk sewer. In doing so they are treated to a cacophony of sights and smells that few of us are fortunately exposed to. So the purpose of the exhibit? To educate children and adults about the problems caused when we put the wrong things down ours sewers such as fats and cooking oils.

The new exhibit is part of the Pond Zone section of wetlands park and is a welcome addition to the Wetlands Centre. Few of us realise the problems that can happen when we put the wrong things down out plugholes or toilet and this exhibition is the perfect way to see the problems that can occur.

The new Down the Plughole attraction is sure to be a great hit with the kids over the half term break.

United Utilities is handing out free water saving devices to people visiting the National Trust’s Hill Top farmhouse, the home of author Beatrix Potter, next Wednesday the 27th of October.

The company are holding a range of water saving roadshows across the North West region over the next few months. The water saving packs given away will include information on how to save water, a shower device and a save-a-flush device which can be fitted easily into your toilet and saves around one litre of water with every flush.

The pack also contains a shower regulating device which slows the flow of water but mixes it with air, so users should not notice the difference when showering with the device fitted. It has been estimated that just using the shower regulator could save you £43 per year for homeowners on a water meter.

United utilities water efficiency manager stated:

“Reducing the amount of water we use on a daily basis can be done in small steps and doesn’t have to be life changing. Even something as simple as turning off the tap when brushing your teeth could potentially save up to 18 litres each time, that’s enough to run some washing machines. Switching from taking baths to using showers and making sure your dishwasher or washing machine is full when you use it means you’re getting the maximum use from your water supply. They’re steps I’m sure some of Miss Potter’s characters would have approved of.”

There has been much talk about the new Thames Tunnel and how it will improve the water quality of the River Thames. But it seems that the river has started to fight back since the nineteen fifties when it was declared “biologically dead”.

London’s river was also its main drain in the 1800s when the industrial revolution spewed toxic contaminants into the river on a daily basis. And in the 1950s and 60s you wouldn’t ever have considered the river winning any prizes. At times of heavy rainfall, sewers still overflow into the river to prevent localised flooding, but even so it has just won a prestigious award for environmental conservation.

The International Thiess River Prize comes with prize money of £218,000 and the Thames beat off competition from Australia and Austria to claim the top spot.

Salmon are now found in the river (the first past London bridge since 1833) and in fact, it now has over 125 species of fish. It’s so clean that some people have even started to swim in the river again. Just this summer, The Great River Swim saw 70 people swim around Chiswick Island, file miles from Hyde Park.

If you are buying a new house, you may have a survey done to check that it is in a condition worthy of the amount of money you are going to spend. The survey will look at the integrity of the house, whether the house has any damp, if the house has any major problems and if the house is worth what you are going to pay for it. However it is only rarely that a house has a drainage survey done before it is purchased.

If your house is very old, there is a chance that the drains may still be the ones that were installed when the house was built. And they may never have been checked to see if they are in a good working condition. This can be a problem, as a broken or damaged drain may not only be costly to replace, it may also cause damage in the future to the integrity of your home if the pipe becomes blocked and the waste backs up and flows into your house.

It’s for the above reason that any homeowner should make sure that the drainage pipes leading away from their home are in a good working condition when making their purchase. This can be done by having a CCTV survey of the pipes so their internal workings can be fully examined.