Wrekin secures manhole cover deal with Thames Water

Wrekin Products has reached an agreement to supply water and sewerage utility provider Thames Water with manhole covers and bedding mortar for use throughout its network.  

The 3+2-year framework agreement is the third between the two companies over the course of a 10-year relationship.

With approximately 1.2 million manholes across 67,000 kilometres of sewers, Thames Water requires a solution that is proven to last and easy to install.  Premature failure of manhole covers costs the industry millions of pounds per year and can lead to subsequent road damage. In addition, replacing a manhole cover is not only disruptive but expensive; Thames Water often has to rent the street off the relevant council in order to make repairs, at costs of up to £15,000 per day depending on the location.

There are already nearly 50,000 of Wrekin’s Unite manhole covers in service on the Thames Water network and the utility provider has now signed up to use its UniPak bedding mortar.

Simon Turner, sales director of Wrekin Products, said: “Unite works most effectively when a certain standard and strength of bedding mortar is used. While in the past Thames has used solutions already available on the market, we realised that there was an opportunity to create something tailored to the needs of Thames Water and others.”