Councils warn of water crisis in London high rises

Thousands of london residents could be left without an adequate water supply if the local water company continues to reduce the supply’s pressure.

Thames Water wants to bring down water pressure levels in the capital to reduce leakages and burst pipes. The company said these incidents had reached unacceptable levels, particularly in north London.

But the Association of London Government said reducing the pressure could lead to serious problems such as inadequate running water for people in high-rise blocks.

Combination boilers that need a high water pressure to operate would also be affected.

Brian Salinger, Conservative vice-chairman for housing at the ALG and lead member for housing at Barnet council, said complaints from tenants were on the rise in parts of London where Thames Water had already reduced pressure – including Waltham Forest, Newham, Enfield and Haringey.

“Pumps can reduce the problem but these involve installation costs and then there’s the question of where to put them,” said Salinger.

He said ALG research indicated that installing pumps could cost as much as £100m.

Islington councillor Jyoti Vaja said the situation was worsening day by day. “Every day I get calls from tenants saying they can’t flush their toilet,” she said.

“Thames Water hasn’t so far taken our complaints very seriously. I raised this issue with them back in November.”

ALG representatives will meet Thames Water on 6 September to discuss the matter. Vaja said: “Now that the ALG has become involved, Thames Water seems to be taking the problem more seriously.”

A spokesman for Thames Water insisted that work to change water pressures in north London had not yet started and would not start until the autumn.

He said: “We will be very careful to ensure that only those areas that don’t need high water pressure will have the pressure cut. The idea is that homeowners won’t even notice.

“There are a lot of alarmist comments being made and maybe we haven’t explained our plans in enough detail.

“Hopefully, the meeting in September will help clear up these unfounded fears.”