Headington sewer capacity

Here are some notes from a meeting with Thames Water, following sewage spills in and around London Road and Brookside.

Pipe capacity

  • There is a 150 mm pipe down London Rd
  • This joins a 300 mm pipe in All Saints Road
  • Capacity has been checked in and around the junction of Headley Way, London Road and Brookside and this is OK.
  • If capacity were a problem then the sewer would block up daily.
  • Sewer pipes need to be fairly full as they are self-cleaning so require steady flow

Monitoring capacity

  • Growth forecast  is considered every 6 months so incremental change is spotted.
  • They have just finished plotting capacity across the City and Headington is OK. (evidence shown for this)
  • London Road sewer (incl Brookside) is on the 1 year planned maintenance list because of the frequency of incidents but the latter have all been due to a build-up of fat and grease

How to contact Thames Water

Thames Water enquiry number is 0800 316 9800 to report drainage issues

Responsibility for sewers

Thames Water look after shared sewers. As soon as a sewer leaves your land then Thames Water looks after it

  • If a sewer pipe runs past no. 1, 3, 5, 7 then the owner of no. 1 is responsible for sorting out problems with the pipe inside his/her curtilage but when it gets to no. 3 and thereafter it’s the responsibility of TW
  • If unsure whose responsibility it is, ring Thames Water enquiry number

Causes of sewer blockage

Fat and grease clings to non-biodegradable wipes – these are everywhere now, not just baby wipes but surface wipes, make-up wipes etc

New technology to detect blockage

Echo system technology is newly available – don’t have to dig up major roads to put cameras down from now on, can send down an echo finder and get a reading from that

Further action agreed

  • TW to send posters/leaflets/.pdf link to Cllrs to promote what can and can’t go down sinks/toilets
  • TW to establish whether promotion dept is working with Oxford Brookes and Headington School
  • Cllrs to contact Thames Water if we think street traders are pouring grease into the sewers

Thames Water news on Osler Road spills

Thames Water is sending down a team for a ‘lift and look’ exercise along the line from the Osler Rd sewer, otherwise known as a ‘visual assessment’.
This means that an engineer will lift up each of the manhole covers in Osler Road, the corner of LFC, and two in St Andrew’s Rd – one of which is near Old High Street. S/he will assess how high the levels are, and whether there are major fat deposits.
Depending on the result of this, they will organise sewer clearances or put down cameras for a more detailed survey.
There have been five instances of spills from that sewer line in the last 12 months or so. This may be caused from the wrong things being put down drains by folk living in flats nearby but this cannot yet be confirmed.
This visual inspection is currently listed on Thames Water’s database as ‘awaiting scheduling’ but will happen before 7 August