Thames Water
Thames Water is the UK’s biggest water and wastewater services provider. Its key workers provide essential services around the clock to 15 million customers across London, the Thames Valley and surrounding areas.
Thames Water is working in one of the most densely populated and urbanised regions in the UK, which places a lot of pressure on drainage. Historically the Company’s response has focussed on engineering solutions, typically using storage tanks, but Thames Water is shifting the emphasis on reducing the volume of surface water entering its sewers with sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), creating capacity to manage future challenges in a more cost-effective way.
Last year, Thames Water installed state-of-the-art permeable pavements to protect homes in West London from flooding. The pavements, which absorb rainwater and slowly release it into the sewer network, were installed on six roads in Hammersmith and Fulham as part of the Counters Creek Flood Alleviation Scheme.
In AMP7 Thames Water is partnering with local authorities, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders to fund surface water management (SWM) projects including green spaces and removing hard, impermeable surfaces such as concrete and asphalt in areas most at risk of flooding.
The programme aims to create more sustainable solutions to reduce the amount of rain water entering the company’s vast sewer network and counter flooding in urban areas. Working in collaboration with external parties helps to find innovative ways to manage surface water in areas where sewers have limited capacity to deal with excess water flows, but at the same time improving streets and urban places.