Sewage Action Group for the Lambourn Upper Valley (SAGLUV)
Covering the villages of Eastbury, East Garston and Great Shefford
Update 14 November 2024
Groundwater levels are now touching Thames Water’s Red Warning threshold for risk of sewer flooding (East Garston threshold) and, although it’s very early days, as of last week, there has been little sign of infiltration or flooding yet. So far so good! However, we are being warned by all the relevant agencies, EA, WBC and TW, that we can expect this winter’s groundwater levels to reach a similar level to those seen in 2014. This forecasting is not an exact science, but many will remember the extensive groundwater flooding and resultant sewer flooding that we suffered then.
Piers Allison of the Pang Valley Flood Forum has kindly modified his website pages to cover the Lambourn Valley:
The prime purpose of the site is to provide a more detailed view of flood risk and warnings, by providing data that gives us a better understanding of the links between rainfall, groundwater and flooding, and of course, the implications for sewage pollution. More detailed information about this site will be found shortly on the Parish Council websites.
The big question is whether or not the remedial work carried out by TW on their sewerage infrastructure, and preparations for mitigation that have been made, have put us in a better position to cope now than back in 2014. The short answer is – we don’t know yet! We are assured by TW that all the relining and manhole sealing work that was planned for 2024 has been completed in Eastbury, East Garston and Great Shefford. However, they are continuing to make checks on the network to spot any further points of infiltration as the water continues to rise and cover more pipework. This is the time when TW can spot “misconnections” i.e. leaks in private drains to sewers, or sometimes situations where groundwater has been diverted into the sewer network. This, of course, is not permitted.
Late last spring, Eastbury suffered from additional sewage flooding caused by the river overtopping its banks due to excessive river weed growth. At the request of the Eastbury Village Wardens, the Environment Agency agreed to remove some of the weed which had an immediate effect in stopping the flooding. The Wardens and TW have persuaded EA to implement a weed control regime that should help prevent that source of flooding.
In East Garston, the installation of the ATAC filter unit that was planned for December has been brought forward and the unit is already in place and being set up. Although welcome, to put it in context, this is a least worse solution. The sewage is not treated. The unit simply filters the effluent before being discharged, albeit highly diluted, directly into the river. This helps the pumping station to cope with the excessive flows and hopefully removes the need to discharge unfiltered raw sewage into the river, as used to happen regularly. With luck, the unit won’t have to be used, but it will be ready if needed. Hopefully tankers won’t have to be used again this winter, but TW’s contingency plans include their deployment in the three villages if necessary.
Many will have seen the massive construction project being undertaken alongside the Wantage Road in Great Shefford. This is not, as some people think, a Thames Water project, but is in fact, a Flood Alleviation Scheme initiated by Great Shefford PC, with the support of EA and WBC. When completed, in early 2025, it will divert the winterbourne stream that flows alongside the Wantage Road, and which has caused serious flooding in some years. The scheme is designed to divert the stream via a pipe feeding it into the river, bypassing the properties that were previously affected. As this stream has previously impacted the sewerage network with additional infiltration, it is believed that TW’s network will also benefit from the scheme when it is completed.
Some of last winter’s sewage problems were also caused by slow response to reports from residents e.g. clearing blockages or tankers failing to arrive. We at SAGLUV have raised these concerns with TW at director level, and have received assurances that improvements have been made to customer services and contractor processes. We will be keeping a very close watch on this in the coming months. We need residents to report sewage incidents, and however frustrating it is, to do so repeatedly if necessary.
Nobody is claiming that any, or all, of the above will guarantee a trouble free winter, but at least some serious attempts have been made to reduce sewage flooding and mitigation plans have been prepared if the sewers are overwhelmed. It’s a case of hope for the best, but prepare for the worst!
Mention has been made previously of the WBC Scrutiny Commission meeting in October where TW, EA and WBC were held to account on flooding and sewage issues.
Here is the link to the draft minutes of the meeting:
You can even watch the video! But a word of warning, the meeting went on for 3½ hours! Having said that, the scrutiny procedure is an interesting and valuable process, whereby we, the public, can observe our elected representatives, and others, interrogate and challenge the various agencies that are responsible for providing us with essential services.
As well as questions during the meeting, representatives of the various interested parties, including SAGLUV, also submitted a number of questions in advance. Thames Water gave a detailed presentation including their answers to the many questions raised. See (Public Pack)Supplementary Agenda Pack 3 - Thames Water Presentation and Q&A Agenda Supplement for Scrutiny Commission, 17/10/2024 18:00 At 50 pages long, it takes some perseverance to get through it all, but there is some very relevant information, including details of the work carried out locally.
If you have any queries related to this update, or wish to report any incident of concern, please feel free to contact your local SAGLUV representative:
Andrew Gorton (Eastbury) villagewardens@eastbury.org
Martyn Wright (East Garston) martynwright345@btinternet.com
Louisa Freeman (Great Shefford) greatsheffordpc@hotmail.com
SAGLUV
14 November 2024
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