news NEWS Volunteers wanted The community investment team need volunteers to help deliver Thames Water’s flagship engineering activity the Network Challenge. They need volunteers to help engage secondary school students in planning, building and testing their own real-life water networks. This term’s events will be held in: • NEWHAM February 13 and 27 • SWINDON March 13 • READING March 26 More events will be taking place in April, May and June in Hounslow and Reading. If you are interested in volunteering contact Liz Banks.
Jan’s a WaterAid Lottery winner The winner of December’s WaterAid Lottery jackpot of £800 is a delighted Janet Passmore. It was the second time Thames Water’s corporate tax manager has scooped the grand prize in five years. She said: “I really do feel extremely lucky. That has made my 2013 already!” Runners-up in the monthly draw, each receiving £25, were: DG Saker, CA Gardner, V Hoosen Jones, Helen Burton, GV Eadon, WM Tavner, Louise Bancroft, Leslie Bonnyman, Allan Comins, J Haworth, TH Wilks, RJ Tull, PA Parkin, R Teague, Chris Webb, JF Davis, Nicholas Burkinshaw, Kevin Kelleher, Fiona Bartlett-White, Stephen Pulling, Rob Hales, Melissa Blake, Jason Beasley and Teresa Fisher. Each entry share costs only £1, and you can buy as many as you like. The more you buy, the more likely you are to win – and all the profit goes to WaterAid. To take part contact Ginika Okoye.
Barrow Hill before
Barrow Hill after
Council agrees green Barrow Hill plans Sensitive approach helps secure permission to turf over reservoir in congested area next to Primrose Hill Park BY HEATHER LEWIS JONES
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£13 million reservoir project in one of the most developed and congested areas of London has been granted planning permission. Barrow Hill reservoir was constructed in 1826 but decommissioned in 2002 after ground movement was found to be affecting its structural integrity.
“This is typical of the challenges we face, delivering projects in highly populated areas” Although there was a need to establish a new storage reservoir in the area, obtaining permission to use the existing site was complicated by its location – a residential area next to Primrose Hill Park and half a mile from Regents Park.
Thames Water spent over a year engaging with the community and stakeholders, including ‘Friends of Primrose Hill’, councillors, the local school and both The City of Westminster and London Borough of Camden. Their opinions helped shape the company’s plans, including the decision to improve the landscape by replacing the existing barrel arched roof with a grassed-over roof. Features like nesting boxes and new plant life will bring further environmental benefits to the area by attracting a wide variety of birds. Scott Wilkins, head of programme delivery for the London process team who are managing this project for capital delivery, said: “Barrow Hill is typical of the challenges we face, delivering projects in highly populated areas. “The sensitive approach we’ve taken to engaging with the local community and the environmental considerations we’ve built into our plans are really good examples of how we are overcoming these challenges to produce better outcomes for local people.” The team are planning another phase of engagement to let residents and other stakeholders know what to expect when construction begins in the next few months.
Innovation hub celebrates first birthday The capital delivery innovation hub has generated nearly 100 ideas and suggestions in its first year. In that time it has helped save time and money, improve safety and reduce the impact of work on the environment and customers Ideas have included recycling old kit, like valves, to save as much as £25,000 in a London network tunnel inspection project. There have also been suggestions for new ways of working including ‘core and vacuum’ keyhole repairs of pipes under roads where a single core of tarmac is removed and then popped back into place after the repair has been completed. This technique saves time over traditional methods and improves the standard of reinstatement. Special projects manager Peter Taylor explained: “We’ve been impressed by the range of ideas added over the last year. The hub has put these great ideas
at our fingertips and is helping us to make more of them part of our programme.” Based on TWEXnet, capital delivery’s document management system, the hub is available to Thames Water employees with TWEXnet access and current capex contractors. “To be truly innovative we need to keep sharing the best ideas out there,” Peter added. “If you’ve come across something different which could benefit our capital programme, get involved by sharing it on the hub.” To find out more or to gain access to the hub contact Peter M Taylor or Mark Davis. Peter Taylor