A public exhibition will be held at Glenridding Public Hall on Wednesday the 27th of July to show off the proposed new sewer system.

The project which is estimated to be costing Untied Utilities approximately £940,000 will connect 35 houses to the mains sewage system and should be completed before the end of spring 2012.

The project co-ordinator Mark Clinton stated:

“We want to build a new public sewer to give homes and businesses who currently deal with their own waste the option of letting us take it away and do it for them,

“Our new pipe will connect houses in Greenside Road to the sewer system in central Glenridding so that their waste is taken for full treatment before it is returned clean to the local watercourse.

“It will be great news for the environment and hopefully ease the strain on householders as well.”

Most of the work will be done away from the public highway in fields near the site, but some disturbance could be caused to residents of Browfield Close and Greenside Road.

Members of the public who want to view the plans should visit Glenridding Public Hall between 3pm and 7pm.

The name of the huge boring machine which will dig the Lee Tunnel has been chosen, thanks to the children at Newham Primary School. Thames Water announced the winner, Ryan Waters, at a special assembly at the school, and the name he chose – Busy Lizzie.

Busy Lizzie will get ‘busy’ at the start of next year to dig the four-mile long tunnel under the borough and her name will be emblazoned across the 120-metre long machine.

The tunnel will give some relief to the River Lee, which currently sees around 16 million tonnes of sewage entering it every year when the sewage system can’t cope at times of heavy rainfall. The new tunnel will now take the sewage to the upgraded Beckon sewage works instead of it being released to emergency sewer outflows into the river.

The competition received 232 entries from the school which were judged by Councillor Andrew Baikie, Thames Water’s chief executive Martin Baggs, and Lawrence Gosden, head of capital delivery.

The school has also been awarded with £5,000 of prize money.

Ten year old Ryan stated:

“The boring tunnel machine is massive. Nothing can defeat it. It bores its way through the ground. It works hard. That is why it is called busy. One hundred years ago and fifty, the London sewers were built. Victoria was Queen. Today Elizabeth is Queen. Lizzie comes from Elizabeth. That’s why it’s called Lizzie.

“Busy Lizzie is also the pet name of a flower. Flowers smell nice. Sewers stink!”

Waste water companies have their hands full keeping track of the condition of the sewers in the UK. However most of the problems they face could be solved if the general homeowner were a little more educated regarding what can and what can’t be deposited down the drainage system.

Some homeowners treat their toilet like a waste disposal unit and flush items which can cause real drainage issues.

Common items which homeowners flush down their drains include:

• Wet wipes or make-up wipes
• Sanitary wear
• Nappies
• Disposable gloves
• Hair clips
• Used contraceptives

All the above items should be disposed of in the general waste and not down the toilet. In fact, waste water companies spend thousands of pounds every year removing the built up waste in the sewer system that does not reach the treatment plant. Many of these problems encountered are just caused by the neglect of the general public.

If you have a drainage problem in a big city like London, it’s always worth giving the drain cleaning professionals a call to see if they can help. They offer a rapid response service you can rely on.

Drains become blocked for a variety of reasons. From the accumulation of debris to a complete drain collapse, blocked drainage can cause a multitude of problems which can be a headache for any homeowner.

One of the biggest drain blockage problems many homeowners face in London is caused by scale. Scale builds up over a period of time and can sit on the inside of the drainage pipes, ultimately reducing the drain’s waste carrying capacity. The scale also creates a rough surface on the inside of the sewer where debris can get caught and eventually cause a blockage.

If a drain cleaning company finds that your pipes are heavily scaled, they can remove it using a rotating descaling machine. The descaling machine is inserted into the pipe and uses a rotating cutter the same size as the pipe diameter which trims the scale from the interior surface of the pipe.

When the pipe scale is removed, the drain is usually jetted using high pressure water to remove the scale from the system. When this is done the drain will be restored to its full waste carrying capacity.

Over the past few decades, drain repair methods have improved beyond comprehension. Where in the past a problem with a faulty drain would have led to the drain being excavated and replaced, there are now a whole host of different solutions drainage companies can use to instigate a drain repair.

One of the recently used tools which has proved invaluable for drainage companies is the CCTV survey. Drainage companies are now able to see directly into the drainage system using a small camera which is inserted into the drain. Some companies even have remote controlled robots which can be inserted into the drainage system and then ‘driven’ along the drain to find the problem area.

Using CCTV cameras, the drainage company can visually see the problems with the drain so accurate repairs can be made. In the past a drain may have been excavated when it only needed jetting or intrusive roots trimmed. And sometimes whole lengths of drains were excavated to find a problem, when only a section of a few feet would now need to be replaced. Errors like these have now been eradicated and thanks to detailed surveys many of the jobs that would have taken a huge amount of time previously now only take a matter of hours to solve.