Residents and campaigners voice concerns about Ealing’s sewers and drains – EALING.NEWS – The Voice of Ealing 7 Cities

Campaign groups and local residents have raised concerns about the state of Ealing’s sewers and drains following London’s flash floods last Monday (15 July 2025). Heavy rain saw flooding on Greenford Avenue in Hanwell and firefighters cleared floodwaters and unblocked drains in Old Hanwell.

A video shot by a resident and sent to EALING.NEWS showed traffic driving through deep flooding on Greenford Avenue.

The impact of the floods saw firefighters from the London Fire Brigade clear floodwater from the streets of Old Hanwell.

Residents also had to sweep away polluted water that spilled onto roads and into gardens and houses.

Ben Morris, trustee of the Brent River Park charity and founder of the Clean Up the River Brent (CURB) campaign, took photos and video of the sewage overflows on Uxbridge Road and Churchfield Road. He said: “This was shocking evidence of the poor management of urban stormwater. It is clear that our infrastructure cannot cope with these heavy rains. Climate change is making these serious flooding incidents more frequent.”

Mr Morris added: “To deal with this, we need co-ordinated action from a number of agencies. We are calling on Ealing Council, Brent Council, the Environment Agency, Thames Water and the Greater London Authority to work together to resolve this before it is too late.”

Hanwell resident Robert Wendt added his concern about how often this is happening. He said: “This is the fifth time since I moved here in mid-October 2023 that the sewer has backed up into my drains and the third time it has overflowed the open drains in my kitchen and bathroom and flooded the back garden. Attempts to get Thames Water and Ealing Council to deal with the matter have failed as each says the other is responsible.”

He added: “Thames Water says the sewerage works well under ‘normal’ conditions and surface water drainage is the Council’s responsibility. But 5 times in 9 months is not exceptional; now it’s normal and it will get worse.”

Brent River Park Charity Trustee Steven Toft commented: “This is happening more and more often. People are very concerned and understandably getting quite frustrated and angry at the lack of any coordinated response. It also shows the importance of the Brent River Park floodplain. Without our park to absorb water, the risk of flooding would be much worse. It is for this reason that we are opposed to the addition of any master to the Brent River Park and would like to see the council turn more of it back into green space.”

Mr Toft added: “Climate change is having a negative impact on the way we live in London. We encourage Ealing and other London boroughs to adopt the Sponge City principles that have proven so successful elsewhere. Echoing Ben’s comments, we are keen to work with the various agencies responsible for a joint response to this issue.”