Holloway residents have criticised Thames Water after their water supplies were disrupted for three weeks due to works on Holloway Road.
Residents say they have had poor pressure with no water supply on a number of days, and that there has been a “lack of communication” from Thames Water. The issue affected residents from 26 October until 15 November while the water company worked on a pipe outside Morrisons on Holloway Road.
During a two-week period Joe Elliott and his flatmates contacted Thames Water seven times before a plumber was sent out and an explanation given. He said: “That’s the thing that’s so annoying about it, it’s just the lack of communication. They could have sent out letters to explain what was happening.”
Another resident, who asked to remain unnamed, said, “I have found it really odd that there was nothing mentioned about the issue on their website. I only received one text message from them when they started the work. It would [have been] nice if they could give daily updates to residents, because the problem lasted more than 48 hours.”
Responding to the complaints, Thames Water said: “We’re sorry to those residents who have had intermittent problems with their water supply during periods of high demand, due to our work to divert a water main around a protected tree. We’ve been providing them with bottled water and will continue to do so until the work finishes later this week.”
Thames Water also said that they “sent text messages to all those who have provided mobile numbers, to keep them updated.”
However, residents that have spoken to Islington Now have said that they only received one text during the three-week period.
There has been some confusion about the cause of the problem as despite some being told it was caused by a diversion, others were given a different explanation.
Joe Elliott, who lives on Loraine Estate, said: “A plumber from Thames Water came out to us and gave us a reference number about a leak on Holloway Road.” Elliott added that the plumber informed him that the leak had only been identified the week before.
Although Thames Water said the issue only occurred during peak times, according to some residents “it’s been all hours of the day.”
