Leaks in Newtown #rdg and water-saving

I followed up my work earlier in the year on the water leaks in Newtown – which Thames water failed to repair for quite some time – with a meeting with them today. I thought the meeting was productive.

I raised a number of issues with the including the time it had taken them to fix leaks in the area, a blocked pipe sewage issue and various aspects of water-saving.

I think they have now fixed all of the long-term visible leaks in Newtown that I have reported. Please let me know if there are any still outstanding?

Across the rest of Reading there will be 10 additional crews working to get on top of the backlog of leaks which they now have. This backlog is due to a combination of the Olympics and a new computer system. It is good to see them taking this issue seriously.

Water metering has been shown to focus people's minds on using water efficiently – although Thames water pointed out that some of the evidence suggests that this is only a short-term fix and usage drifts upwards in the medium term. You can contact Thames water to talk to them about getting a water meter fitted.

They also have some water-saving devices which they will post out to you for free.