JUST 690 homes have received compensation from Thames Water after losing their water supply for five days earlier this year.
In January, the water company set up temporary stations in Tilehurst and east Reading to allow residents to collect bottles of water after a technical issue at Pangbourne Water Treatment Works meant homes were left with little or no water for five days. This was compounded by air locks and cold weather which caused 50 burst pipes across the region.
The issue affected customers in Reading, Pangbourne, Tilehurst and surrounding areas, with some unable to even flush the toilet, and others left with washing stuck in machines unable to pump water in. We also reported on vulnerable customers who had not been contacted by the water firm.
Under rules set by regulator Ofwat, water companies must pay customers £30 if there is no water in mains supply after 12 hours of being made aware of an issue. For every 12 hours thereafter, an additional £30 is payable.
In an email sent to customers, they said the threshold is when water pressure drops to below 0.3 bar on its pipes.
“When calculating eligibility for CGS, we use data from pressure monitors within the network to work out the interruption experienced in each area, and then using property height data this is further broken down based on each individual property,” the email states.
Cllr James Moore, leader of Liberal Democrats in Tilehurst, was one of those receiving this email. He said that Thames Water told him on Twitter the Reading area was deemed to have had ‘adequate water pressure’ during the outage, something that left him flabbergasted.
“My own eyes did not deceive me that no water was coming out of my taps,” he added.
“I’m pleased to hear at least some households are being compensated for the loss of water and pressure, however, households like mine will be rightly aggrieved that they are being told they aren’t entitled to anything despite being without any or very little running water for four days straight.
“Thames Water need to continue what is best for their customers and when they fail they should be doing right by them.”
One of the affected residents, Laura Blackburn, lives in an east Reading street that was also affected by a leak on Wokingham Road at its junction with Eastern Avenue.
She is classed as a vulnerable household who should have been contacted automatically by Thames Water, but it was only due to Reading Today’s involvement that this happened.
Her family have not been offered any redress.
She said: “Despite being told we qualify for compensation as a vulnerable household without water for four days we have not heard anything from Thames Water about it.”
Reading Labour leader Jason Brock was disappointed Thames Water has not compensated more households.
“Although it’s positive that Thames Water have finally progressed some of the compensation owed, it’s clear that far more than 690 homes in Reading were affected by their failure of supply earlier this year,” he told Reading Today.
“Residents will rightly be aghast that a company whose own administrative failures have led it to the brink of needing a bail-out, and whose infrastructure failures led to a situation where it wasn’t providing its fundamental service, is once again treating them without respect or compassion.
“Thames Water should get this sorted properly and ensure that all affected are granted the compensation they deserve.”
And Councillor Dave McElroy (Green Party, Redlands Ward) said: “Ah, yes Tory Britain where you can’t flush your toilet, but Thames Water still manage to provide unlimited raw sewage.
“From what I heard loads more people were affected; they should all be compensated.
“This is another nail in the coffin for Thames Water and yet somehow the Greens are the only party that thinks this failing company should be back in public ownership.”
Reading Conservatives and Thames Water were invited to comment.
