08 February 2010
A Wigan watercourse is set for a clean-up after United Utilities untangles a knotty problem.
The sewers in Durham Street, Wigan, have got their wires crossed and it means pollution is getting into Clarington Brook.
Sewers which should carry foul wastewater to the local treatment plant have been wrongly connected to pipes which should only carry rainwater into the brook. The problem probably dates back up to ten years when new housing was built in the area.
Mark Graham, United Utilities project manager, explained: "These kind of cross connections often happen because people aren't aware that there are two different drainage systems. We often see instances where waste pipes from a new toilet or washing machine are wrongly connected into the surface water drains. On rare occasions this can happen with a whole estate."
United Utilities has surveyed the drains at around 50,000 homes throughout the North West over the last five years to identify the source of similar pollution problems. A programme of improvement work was then drawn up to resolve the problem.
The solution at Wigan involves building a new manhole chamber in Durham Street. This will provide a new junction point in the sewer system to pick up the rainwater flows and keep them separate from the foul sewers - resulting in a much cleaner brook for local people to enjoy.
The new chamber will be up to 3m deep, and has to be positioned in the centre of the road, so for safety reasons this means Durham Street will need to be closed between Bedford Street and Sole Street. Although there will be no through traffic allowed, residents in the closed section will still be able to access their homes.
Bus stops on Durham Street will be suspended throughout the road closure and residents are advised that the nearest bus stops for the 624 and 664 services are on Platt Lane and Whelley Road.
Mark added: "We're sorry about the temporary disruption this will cause, but the long term benefit to Clarington Brook will make it worthwhile. It's improvement work like this that everybody's water bills help to fund."
Work will start on Monday 22 February and is expected to take two weeks.
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