Little Venice water leak is enough for 7,400 showers
Enough water to flush 32,400 toilets or wash 8,100 cars has leaked out from a Little Venice road over the past month.
As London prepares for a hosepipe ban, residents have been forced to watch more than 250,000 litres of water pour out from a manhole on Crompton Street.
Flooding across the road, the water has been a permanent feature outside Little Venice Sports Centre and Paddington Green Primary School since mid-February.
Dozens of people say they have complained to Thames Water, but the water company says it has been unable to fix the problem because the leak is from a customer’s pipe on private land.
Dawn Woodrow, who works at the sports centre, said she has twice reported the leak while other colleagues have also done so.
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“It’s really frustrating,” she said. “Several of our customers have come in and complained about it and they say they have reported it as well.
“Thames Water is fully aware of it and there is nothing else we can do.”
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Church Street resident David Davidson, 49, is a regular user of the sports centre.
He said: “The sheer volume of the water coming out is quite impressive.
“All the people using the leisure centre and the school have to walk straight through it every day.
“With the hosepipe ban it just seems crazy to be wasting so much water.”
Staff at Paddington Green Primary School confirmed they have also reported the leak.
Thames Water, which looks after London’s water supply, is one of a number of companies in the south east of England to confirm a hose-pipe ban from April 5.
People in breach of the ban risk being prosecuted and fined up to �1,000.
The Environment Agency has also warned of severe drought this summer, even if rainfall returns to average levels.
A spokesman for Thames Water said: “We are working with the private owners of this pipe to help them get it repaired as soon as possible.
“As it is not a Thames Water pipe, we are legally not allowed to just go in and fix it.”
