HL Deb 10 February 1987 vol 484 cc509-10
Lord Campbell of Croy

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are satisfied that water mains in the United Kingdom are at depths and in conditions which will protect them from the degrees of frost which are to be expected from time to time.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Skelmersdale)

Yes, my Lords. Water mains in the United Kingdom are laid at depths which ensure that they do not freeze during extremes of low temperature. The water main which supplies my house in Somerset, for instance, is three feet deep.

Lord Campbell of Croy

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that reassuring reply. Does he agree that on average there is at least one cold spell per winter in this country; and must we expect floods and interrupted supplies as a result of burst water mains every time?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, my noble friend is quite right. There is at least one cold snap of varying severity each winter. The cold snap that we had last month was the most severe since the winter of 1962–63. The average rate of failure in the United Kingdom amounts to one burst per year for every four kilometres of main. It may interest the House to know that each burst costs £500 to repair, compared with a gross replacement cost of £200,000 for four kilometres of main.

Baroness Nicol

My Lords, does the figure which the Minister has just given include the cost to those whose lives are disrupted by the burst water main, a cost which must be considerable? Is he aware that Government control on water authority borrowing is preventing them from making the needed investment in water main replacement? Research has shown that materials are now available which would not burst whatever the weather. Mains can now be laid in polyethylene. Can he say whether the Government have any plans to allow the water authorities to replace mains as necessary with that material?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, if water authorities find it cost effective, which I suggest they probably will not from the figures I gave in answer to my noble friend Lord Campbell, they are at perfect liberty to use whatever materials they deem to be necessary. I should point out that the polyethylene pipes suffer from problems at the joints. But that is not because of freezing per se; it is a result of the contraction and expansion of the ground around the water mains. This is likely to happen even if the water mains are laid deeper.

Lord Paget of Northampton

My Lords, surely the simple answer to this Question is no. It would be grossly uneconomic for us ever to have all our mains in a condition to resist every possible degree of frost and unexpected weather. We have to try to balance.

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, that is what I was seeking to convey in the most polite of possible terms.

Lord Mellish

My Lords, how is it that Norway and Canada have much worse weather but do not seem to have our problems?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, I have never lived in or experienced the winter of Norway or Sweden—

Lord Mellish

Canada.

Lord Skelmersdale

I expect that the reason has something to do with the snow cover in those parts of the world, which would reduce the expansion and contraction of the soil.

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