5-20 challenge is back Graduates issue a rally call for intrepid Thames Water teams to dive into October’s 5-20 challenge
T
he challenge is simple: carry 20 litres of water five miles. Think you can do it? Why not sign up for the 5-20 challenge on Friday 5 October and raise some money for WaterAid. Teams of between four and six people are required to take part in the event, which launched last year and is organised by Thames Water graduates. Teams can walk or run but will need to take part in extra tasks along the route which starts at Battersea water treatment works. Organiser Jevan Laxen said: “There will also be new and exclusive physical tasks to the scenic route. Winners will be decided by the outcome of the challenges and the time it
takes them to complete the route. “We also need people to back and sponsor their favourite teams between now and September to raise as much money as possible for WaterAid. We aim to beat last year’s total of £25,000.” Funds from the 5-20 challenge will contribute to Thames Water’s target of raising £2 million for WaterAid in four years. The funds will help provide safe water and sanitation to adults, children and families living in some of the poorest parts of Bangladesh. For more information please contact Jevan Laxen (07747 646707) or Jon Biruls (07747 647805)
NEWS
Oxford burst cuts supply to 2,000
A burst main on Old Road in Headington, Oxford, interrupted water supplies to up to 2,000 nearby residents’ homes. Reports came in from customers from 6am on 24 July, one of the hottest days of the year. The company’s response was decisive and efficient: water was re-routed from other parts of the network at 8am and by 10.30am supplies were restored to all affected properties. Local residents, however, were particularly angry as this was the eighth, and worst, burst on Old Road in the past two years. “No decisions have been taken yet on whether to replace the mains under Old Road but it is clearly a discussion that we will be having in the coming days,” a company spokesman told local media. “We are really sorry to the people inconvenienced by the recent burst, and doubly sorry as this is by no means the first such incident on this street.”
Floods in Kilburn A large water main burst on Kilburn High Road on 25 July, causing flooding to the carriageway and traffic jams along the route. Thames Water engineers arrived at the scene, pictured, at 7am and were working to resolve the problem at the time of going to press.
Fitz for purpose
Last year’s 5-20
Business resilience manager Chris Fitzgerald’s new-look ‘event’ management training has been going down a storm, according to recent attendees. “Our focus is now to base our response on what our customers want, rather than focusing solely on the pipes and valves,” said Chris. One of Chris’s recently-trained students added: “This bodes well for Thames Water as it strives to improve its customer service.”
‘Leave my bee orchids alone!’ Phil Renton will do anything to stop the lawnmowers wiping out his beloved bee orchids at Walton water treatment works. But the senior water quality scientist is not putting his body on the line here and is in fact lying in the meadow as part of a guided tour to staff and residents on the latest Wild about Thames event, organised by biodiversity engagement manager Cathy Purse. “The idea is to raise the profile of the orchids to the people living in the area,” said Phil. “I have been on a bit of a one-man campaign to stop the grass cutters wiping them out and allowing them to establish. They are not rare, but equally not common plants and at Walton we have around four to 500 scattered around the site.” He was joined by Andy Tomczynski to
provide expert advice on the flowers, one of the UK’s most distinctively recognisable orchids, at Walton and others flowering at different Thames Water sites. Also on the calendar this summer was wild about the night at Kempton Nature Reserve. More than 30 attendees were helped by moth experts who brought along various traps so employees could see different types up close. Wild about Thames is back in September for a hedgehog-related event – as always, free to employees and guests, with children welcome. Email Cathy Purse to get involved. More nature news on page 22.
Phil Renton www.thameswater.co.uk august 2012 | 17