FMJ.CO.UK FACILITIES SHOW DAILY
WELSH SCHOOL SAVED BY
COMMERCIAL DRAINAGE
EXPERTS METRO ROD
FACILITIES SHOW DAILY JUNE 2019 5
When one of the foul pipes at Ebbw Vale
Comprehensive School in Wales became
blocked, it presented Blaenau Gwent County
Borough Council - which manages the school’s
facilities - with a potentially disastrous situation.
The blocked pipe was leaking through the ceiling
and flooding one of the rooms in the school with
sewage. This accumulation of waste water posed a
serious health and safety risk, as backed up water
from toilet drains can become a breeding ground
for harmful bacteria, posing significant risks to the
school children and teachers. The leaking pipe was
also accompanied by an unpleasant odour, which
contributed to health concerns and meant that
teachers and pupils needed to be kept out of that
area of the school.
As it was the morning of a school day, the council
needed to identify and fix the issue as soon as
possible before the waste water began to spill out
and flood the whole school. In order to rectify the
situation, the council contacted drainage experts
Metro Rod, who they had been working with
for a number of years. Metro Rod offers clients
guaranteed local and national availability 24/7/365
to ensure buildings can continue to operate and
meet the needs of occupants. Within 15 minutes of
the initial call two engineers from the local Metro
Rod branch arrived at the school to assess the
damage and cordon off the affected area.
Metro Rod has invested heavily in the very latest
CCTV inspection equipment and software which
allows them to provide completely transparent
real-time reports to identify the problem. Using this
technology, Metro Rod was able to insert a camera
into the school’s drain and stream the data in realtime
to the local Metro Rod depot where they were
able to identify the issue. On this occasion, there
was a foreign object lodged in the pipe which had
caused the blockage and the subsequent sewage
leak.
Once the cause had been discovered, the Metro
Rod engineers called for back-up and got to work on
clearing the blockage. The engineers decided that
high-pressure water jetting - the process of using
water propelled at high speeds to clean surfaces
and materials - was the most effective method for
this particular blockage. A pump was attached to
an engine on the Metro Rod van which sucked the
excess water out of the drain before high-pressure
water was pumped from a clean water tank, through
a hose into a jetting nozzle. As the hose travelled
up the drain, the high-pressure water softened
and removed the blockage enabling water to flow
through the drain again.
Having successfully removed the blockage and
stopped the leak, the engineers checked for any
lasting damage to the drain and secured it to
prevent further leaks. The team then cleared the
sewage out of the room using professional cleaning
equipment and hoovers ensuring that the area of
the school could be accessed by pupils and teachers
once more.
In total, Metro Rod identified the issue, removed
the blockage and cleaned up the sewage in just five
hours. This efficient service helped to ensure that a
potentially disastrous scenario was quickly rectified
before it became a major issue for the school and
the council. This is just part of the exceptional
everyday service the Metro Rod team offers which
has resulted in a long-standing relationship with
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.
Speaking of the relationship between Metro Rod
and the council, Rob Jenkins of Blaenau Gwent
County Borough Council, said: “We have been
working with Metro Rod for 10 years now, which
is testament to the job that they do. Metro Rod is
a great company to work with and they get things
done very professionally. Metro Rod is always
reliable and provides value for money too, which is
really important to us with the budget constraints
we’re working to.
“As in this case, the team at Metro Rod respond
reactively when needed and I know that if I ring
them with a problem at any time - because we do
have issues in the night occasionally - that they’ll be
there as soon as possible, and that’s all I can ask.
“They make a real effort to build up personal
relationships with you and when I walk into the
office, everyone is very friendly and I get on with the
whole team. As long as they keep providing us with
the service we require, there is no need for me to
look elsewhere.”
For more information about Metro Rod, visit
STAND FM5675