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Your ref
Date / 1st June 2011
Dear Mr Mc Elveen
Re: Freedom Of Information Request
Water & Sewer Maintenance Arrangements
I would like to apology for the late reply to your e-mail in February 2011 enquiring into the Council’s water and sewer maintenance arrangements.
Please find a reply at the end of your questions.
1. Could you please provide a list of names and contact details for the Council Officers that are responsible for managing the repair and maintenance of water-mains and sewers on/within all council properties/premises.
The officer responsible for repair and maintenance of water mains and sewers to commercial properties is Geoffrey Robinson, Head of Building Practice.
The officer responsible for repair and maintenance of water mains and sewers to domestic properties is Zara Naylor, Service Manager – Responsive Repairs.
2. Does the Council have a contractor(s) in place to deliver your statutory duties
with respect to the following activities:
a. Mitigating water loss from mains on/within all council properties/premises, including offices, housing depots etc. (The Water Authorities undergo leakage detection exercises and have powers to insist leaks are repaired without delay);
The Council has no direct contracts with private contractors but has arrangements in place to carry out such repairs.
b. Preventing pollution of groundwater from poorly maintained and leaking sewers on council land (recent laws place the burden for any pollution event upon the polluter pays);
Yes
c. Maintaining appropriate levels of water quality within private mains networks at council owned premises, such as housing stock areas, office premises etc. (legislation places various obligations on network owners for maintaining the quality of water on their premises and to get the appropriate approvals before
upgrading/maintenance works are carried out).
The Council use its own Scientific Services for testing the quality of the mains water.
3. Can you please provide the name and address of the contractor(s) currently undertaking the works activities listed in point 2 above?
(2a) – The Council can use its own direct labour or an Exor approved private
contractor.
(2b) – The Council has a framework contract to repair leaking sewers on council
land.
The successful contractors are:
Comet Pump & Engineering Ltd T/A Comet Tankers
Hawkford Hall
231 Uxbridge Road
Rickmansworth
Herts
WD3 8DP
Domestic Drain Services Ltd
13 - 14 Gable Road
Bristol
BS5 0YP
OnSite Central Limited
89 Blackpole West
Worcester
WR3 8TJ
(2c) – Water quality testing is carried out by the Council’s own staff within Scientific
Services, Bristol City Council, St Georges Road, Bristol, BS1 5UY
4. Can you please confirm the nature of the contract that you have with these contractors and when the contract(s) is/are due to be renewed?
(2a) – The contract with Exor expires 31st March 2013. The contract is to provide a list of approved construction contractors to undertake a wide range of building projects including repairs to water mains.
No contract is required for Bristol City Council uses its own staff.
(2b) – It is a four-year framework contract that expires on the 29th February 2012.
(2c) – No contract is required for Bristol City Council uses its own staff.
This response should answer your request in full, however if you are not satisfied with this response or wish to lodge an appeal against any exemptions that may have been applied, you can do so by writing to the Data Protection Officer at Bristol City Council Legal Services, The Council House, College Green, Bristol, or . Details of the complaints procedure can be found at
If, after you have exhausted the council’s complaints procedure, you are still not satisfied with the response you have received you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner, details of your right to complain can be found at
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The Council is unable to grant permission to reproduce or re-use any material accessed through this scheme that is the property of third parties. Permission to reproduce or re-use such material must be obtained from the copyright holders.
If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me at this office.
Yours sincerely
John Thompson
Procurement Category Manager (Building & Civil Engineering)
Strategic Commissioning & Procurement Service / Service Manager's Name / Website5th Floor, B Bond
Smeaton Road, Bristol BS1 6EE / John Charters /