Metro Rod (Newport, Hereford & Gloucester) provide a full 24/7 service to their customers, and this was exactly what was required at Ebbw Vale Comprehensive, where above the ceiling, one of the foul pipes came off, breaking through the ceiling and leaving a rather unpleasant mess on the floor.
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.
Luckily for them, the Metro Rod Newport, Hereford & Gloucester team were quickly on hand to rectify the situation before it could become a major incident for the school. This is just part of the exceptional every day service the Metro Rod team offers, resulting in long term partnerships. You don't have to take our word for it, you can hear it first hand from Rob Jenkins of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.
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 real-time 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.”
More Information
If you would like to find out more, head to Find Your Local Service Centre and give your local office a call or an email and they will be happy to discuss the needs of your site. We are always happy to arrange a free site assessment and no obligation quotations for any work you might need. Alternatively you can call our emergency helpline on 0800 66 88 00.
Talk to your local Metro Rod specialist
We are always happy to arrange a free site assessment and no obligation quotations for any work you might need. Alternatively, you can call our emergency hotline number on 0800 66 88 00
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