星空传媒

Thousands of london residents could be left without an adequate water supply if the local water company continues to reduce the supply鈥檚 pressure.

Thames Water wants to bring down water pressure levels in the capital to reduce leakages and burst pipes. The company said these incidents had reached unacceptable levels, particularly in north London.

But the Association of London Government said reducing the pressure could lead to serious problems such as inadequate running water for people in high-rise blocks.

Combination boilers that need a high water pressure to operate would also be affected.

Brian Salinger, Conservative vice-chairman for housing at the ALG and lead member for housing at Barnet council, said complaints from tenants were on the rise in parts of London where Thames Water had already reduced pressure 鈥� including Waltham Forest, Newham, Enfield and Haringey.

鈥淧umps can reduce the problem but these involve installation costs and then there鈥檚 the question of where to put them,鈥� said Salinger.

He said ALG research indicated that installing pumps could cost as much as 拢100m.

Islington councillor Jyoti Vaja said the situation was worsening day by day. 鈥淓very day I get calls from tenants saying they can鈥檛 flush their toilet,鈥� she said.

鈥淭hames Water hasn鈥檛 so far taken our complaints very seriously. I raised this issue with them back in November.鈥�

ALG representatives will meet Thames Water on 6 September to discuss the matter. Vaja said: 鈥淣ow that the ALG has become involved, Thames Water seems to be taking the problem more seriously.鈥�

A spokesman for Thames Water insisted that work to change water pressures in north London had not yet started and would not start until the autumn.

He said: 鈥淲e will be very careful to ensure that only those areas that don鈥檛 need high water pressure will have the pressure cut. The idea is that homeowners won鈥檛 even notice.

鈥淭here are a lot of alarmist comments being made and maybe we haven鈥檛 explained our plans in enough detail.

鈥淗opefully, the meeting in September will help clear up these unfounded fears.鈥�