In the wake of “Thunder Thursday”, 28 June, the company is assessing which of the unprecedented 2,200 reported floods came from the sewer network. That will help determine the impact on its sewer flooding serviceability and internal sewer flooding measures, as well as highlighting where further work is needed.
Dubbed the “Toon monsoon” in Newcastle, referring to the city’s nickname, the storm swamped tunnels under the Tyne and brought many roads in the region to a standstill.
Northumbrian Water spokesman Alistair Baker said: “At the peak of the storm our Regional Control Center received 750 alarms per hour, which is our normal daily total.”
A major water treatment works had to be taken offline for several hours as the raw water intake got too dirty, he added. There were power outages, communication problems and surface water flooding at a number of wastewater pumping and treatment sites.
The contact centres brought in extra staff to take calls into the early hours of the morning, while sewerage teams worked in “horrendous conditions”. Any negative comments from customers would affect the company’s service incentive mechanism score, which will influence future funding.
Baker said staff were “simply fantastic” in their response, with many getting in touch to see if they could help.