Hospital Burst Main, Affinity Water
St Margaret’s Hospital, Epping
We undertook an emergency repair and reinstatement of a burst main at St Margaret’s Hospital in Epping. This was part of our commitment to Affinity Water. Whilst the mains was privately owned, not belonging to Affinity Water, the high profile and unique circumstances of vulnerable hospital patients meant that we urgently swung in to action dispatching an emergency turnkey solution. There was no water supply to a Mental Health Unit, Breast Screening Unit and Outpatients Department so fast and reliable repair and reinstatement was our primary concern.
The mains pipe was failing in multiple locations. Typically this would require a section of the main to be cut out and replaced. This would have been catastrophic as it would have left the entire hospital without water, compromising hygiene, safety and health. Instead, our out-of-hours on-call specialist teams arrived onsite quickly. They worked efficiently to reduce the pressure and then used 2 x 4” connector clamps to repair the main. This enabled the supply to be maintained whilst a permanent repair was undertaken.
The hospital is a busy and complex site with many vulnerable individuals involved. We never compromise where safety is concerned, so worked quickly to secure the site. We later received feedback that this was “one of the safest sites I’ve ever seen” and represented a “really good example of teamwork in action.” By quickly making the site safe we were able to solve the issues quickly, whilst also reassuring stakeholders and the client and minimise disruption to the busy hospital environment.
This was a fast mission, saving around 2 hours compared to a traditional repair which was vital to get the hospital fully operational quickly. Due to the nature of the site and the vulnerable individuals affected we also quickly deployed an on call Customer Liaison Officer to the site to manage the concerns of doctors, patients and hospital staff whilst our turnkey teams quickly restored supply. We received a grateful letter of thanks from the client having exceeded their expectations.