Thames Water yesterday described last week’s flood at Farringdon station as a ‘learning point’.

At a meeting of the London Assembly’s Environment Committee, Richard Aylard, External Affairs and Sustainability Director for Thames Water explained that the company has a protocol in place with London Underground and that a similar principle with Network Rail should be set up. 

He said; “With London Underground we have a seepage protocol. There should be a similar principle with Network Rail - as clearly we need it.”

The burst pipe at Farringdon was explored as part of a wider discussion addressing issues such as leakage reduction and pipe maintenance. The expected increase in water bills due to the development of the ‘super sewer’ - the Thames Tideway Tunnel - metering in the Capital and ensuring water supply meets demand for London’s growing population, were also discussed.

Stephen Knight AM, Chair of the Environment Committee said;

“The Assembly plays an important role in investigating issues that affect Londoners and we know that many were left frustrated and out of pocket following the Farringdon flood. We learnt today the cost of building the ‘super sewer’ is predicted to be around £34 per Londoner, per year, by 2020. We will continue to monitor such projects because Londoners should not have to foot additional bills if problems arise.”

Richard Aylard also told the Committee that Thames Water was "pushing hard" for a national policy statement by the Government for water, saying that a national policy would give a boost to the sector to get infrastructure and resource projects “fast-tracked” through the planning system.

Click here to watch the full webcast of the meeting.