Episode 1 Watermen: A Dirty Business

Getting clean water can be a dirty business...

Nice!

Mmm.

..for the people who run one of Britain's biggest water companies.

They cover over 5,000 square miles...

and three million homes.

We follow them through one of the hottest summers on record...

I've calmed down and I've counted to ten.

..and beyond.

Come in. It's, er, it's lovely and warm.

From leaks...

Definitely the pressure's gone.

-Are you short-staffed?

-No.

..to blocked sewers...

Oh, there she goes!

It's horrible, it knocks you sick.

Ooh!

..and all we flush away.

-Beautiful(!)

-I mean, a lot of people think they flush the toilet and they forget it, it disappears.

We're the big hole under everybody's houses where it

disappears to.

That's the blockage.

No job's too big, or small...

I think I want to come out now, mate, that'll do.

..for the watermen.

Looks like we're going to get wet.

See you in morning, Wes.

LAUGHTER

Yeah, see you in the morning, mate.

Just another day in the office.

Lingley Mere in Warrington, HQ of one of Britain's largest

water utility companies.

What's your name, please?

Shush, I'm on the phone, kids.

Their seven million customers call here for help.

I've got a rat infestation.

Right, OK. Oh, dear.

-So are you saying the rats are coming through the sewer?

-Yeah, yeah.

Right, cos them rats could be coming from anywhere, really, as well.

-Right, OK then, love.

-Not very nice having rats, though, is it?

We're called a resolution analyst, and it's our job to deal with

the front-line phone calls, so any customers calling in with any problems....

BEEP

Hello, thank you for calling.

My husband's been waiting in for three days, you see.

Did they not tell you that it could be a couple of days before they come back out?

-They told me they were going to come the next morning.

-Right, I'm sorry about that, madam.

I think you get used to having conversations with people

that get abandoned at any moment. You never normally end up finishing them...

BEEP

Hello, thank you for calling, you're through to Jamie...

What can I do for you anyway, gorgeous?

Even when they have got turds floating round in their front room,

customers who are genuinely in dire straits

understand as long as you're honest.

And some of these customers you ring back

and you say we are really busy, "Yeah, that's fine, I understand,"

and you think, "I wouldn't be, I'd be effing and jeffing, going bananas."

MUSIC: "Heat Wave" by Martha and the Vandellas

Britain's enjoying the hottest summer in seven years...

with temperatures hitting a record 36 degrees.

On Manchester's Lower Kersal estate,

they've found a novel way to cool down.

It comes out the sea, you get it for nothing,

so why charge everyone for it?

I'm sorry, but it's fun, and it's warm,

and there's not much else to do, that's it. We don't get much these days in life, you know.

We get water - naught wrong with that.

This is water!

And we're enjoying it, and I'm going to go through it in a minute,

because I'm burning. Aren't we?

Yeah. We pay for it, so we're going to have a good go in it.

I know, innit, might as well enjoy it.

This isn't an isolated case.

Complaints come in across Salford about vandalised fire hydrants.

PHONE RINGS

Thanks for calling, you're through to Paul.

I'm just home now.

It looks like kids have been setting off the fire hydrants again.

Network customer inspector Sean is on his way to the estate, on his own.

I've been in the water industry since I left school,

and I'm responsible, really, for any customer complaints that

come in, with regards to the water supply.

Can be anything from poor pressure, discoloured water,

no water, a leak in the garden.

Every job that you get is different.

You're not doing the same thing,

like you're in a factory - same thing, day in, day out.

Every summertime there is hydrant abuse, in Salford, anyway.

There were no such thing as letting hydrants off

when I were a kid, I didn't know anything about it.

It's the same areas, though, most of the time.

And it's probably the same kids as well.

It's been going on for years with stuff like this, hasn't it?

And when it's hot days like this, it's going to happen, innit?

They class it as antisocial behaviour, I would say.

It does affect a lot of people's supplies, you know.

The kids don't realise when they open them up, it is

affecting people's supplies to their properties, you know.

It is a problem for us. Oh, there we go.

Yep, that's the one.

The hydrants are opened by people using stolen hydrant keys.

The vandals remove the cover and unlock the valves.

Do you understand what I'm saying, though? Your mum and dad's

paying for that water, you know, it's antisocial behaviour, isn't it? It's not very good, is it?

What about elderly people who can't have a cup of tea and stuff like that?

There's elderly people sat down there, watching us.

-All right, I'll come back later.

-Yeah.

-In about three hours!

Well, you seen it then there for yourself, you can

get water thrown at you, I mean, but it's not the end of the thingy.

It just depends on the kids

and where you are in which area as well, you know.

It can get a lot seriouser than, er, you know,

just water sometimes.

I can turn it off, but as soon as I go down to cap it, erm,

with the amount of people that's there, it's not really safe, really.

You know, it's a big problem.

They won't come now till after midnight and turn that off.

That's how long it takes them to come out, don't it?

It's their problem, innit,

if they don't come out and turn it off straightaway.

They should do more things about it, shouldn't they, so kids can't turn it on?

If I came out when they first rung me with this hydrant

straightaway, OK, I'd come and I'd shut that one off, OK?

As soon as I've shut that one off, they'd open another one up.

And if I keep doing that, I'd just be chasing them round all night.

Now they're all cold - you can see all the kids are shivering

and everything and, you know, they're getting fed now.

And they'll all be going to bed soon and that, and then

I can just shut it off and cap it without any hassle, you know.

-You start to turn that off, what will happen?

-That's what I say.

They're going to start bricking him. He's a guy on his own,

it's not his fault, is it? He's only here to do a job.

-I'm here to do a job, and I ain't going to put myself at risk.

-Are you, shit. What for?

All them kids will think, "Nah", cos round here there's nothing for the kids,

so they're going to play, aren't they? It's how it goes.

-You're right, mate.

-Best time to do it, 12 o'clock, when they're all in bed.

-And then they might all still be up then.

-Yeah.

Sean has no choice but to wait

until the streets are quieter to repair the hydrant.

He'll return with some backup.

At the end of the day, I'm just a normal person like everybody else.

I'm not here to take abuse off anybody, really,

I'm just here to do the job.

And, you know, if people are going to start abusing me

in any way, shape or form then I'll just leave site.

MUSIC: "Summertime" by Billy Stewart

The hot weather continues.

There's been no rainfall now for two weeks.

Drains have less water flowing through them,

causing blockages all over the region.

Jesus.

PHONE RINGS

Hiya, thank you for calling, you're through to Paul.

Got more odours coming in,

so people are not happy about sitting in their gardens, are they?

Smelling crap, basically. I wouldn't be, anyway.

Adrian and Wes are one of 70 teams who work on blocked drains.

That's horrendous, that, innit?

Do you want to stay in there a bit, Wes, or do you want me to get you out?

No, I think I want to come out now, mate.

It takes six weeks of hands-on training before you can do this job.

I mean, this is probably one of the worst I've been to for a while, but...

A resident in Oldham called the team in after raw sewage started

to flood her back yard.

I tried to prod it down.

I got an old jar and I'm slopping out the water with the old jar,

but as I'm slopping it out, more's coming up.

Ooh! Just a horrible job.

It's not the prettiest job, you know, but it is what it is.

You've got to have a strong stomach but, you know, it is quite rewarding.

Weren't very sure whether they said they was coming today or

tomorrow and I thought if I were going out tomorrow and

you were coming tomorrow, I could've made other arrangements, but I'm so glad you've come today.

I can go round to me sister's after.

(Have a glass of wine.)

You'll tend to find that it's what people are flushing down,

it's fat, it's baby wipes, it's sanitary towels - you name it, it goes down there.

T-shirts, we've even pulled out of the odd sewer lines.

I mean, yeah, there is defects on the lines sometimes,

but a lot of it is educating people what not to be flushing.

Have you ate all of them goujons?

-I might just have one of them.

-Go on, have one, mate.

Crews work an eight-hour shift, and do an average of four callouts a day.

Tell you what, lad, I don't know about...well,

you're single, aren't you, but my missus goes mad at me

sometimes, going home every night, stinking of shit.

I can imagine, mate.

You go home in such states sometimes,

smelling of poo - depending on what you've been doing.

Last week, me wife made me get changed into me underpants

in the front garden before she even let me into the house.

She had the key in the door, so I had to knock on, and she opened

the door and she said, "You can get changed there before you come in".

So the neighbours were appreciative of it, especially the female ones.

But, er, it was a bit cold, let's say.

Even the little lad's started understanding

-what I do for a living.

-Has he?

Yeah, cos apparently, I were at work other day

and he went for a poo and said to his mum, "I just sent some work down to daddy's place."

THEY LAUGH

Did I tell you about that job I went on in, er, Burnley, that abattoir?

No, don't think so, mate, no.

Manhole spilling out over the top,

intestines running down... running down this lane.

Full of blood, running into this brook.

I tell you what, if you'd have been there, it would've been enough to

put you off these little bad boys, these chicken, whatever they are.

I have probably seen more of my son working shifts than I would do

if I were working a nine-to-five job.

Strangely, I've fallen in love with the job.

I don't think I could see myself doing anything else.

I know you have problems with numbers,

so when it gets to putting the house number in, just pass it over.

We'd probably find it if you spelt Middleton right.

Should've worked harder at school, you, Wes.

SATNAV: Continue 0.6 miles, then enter roundabout.

There you go, tramp on chips, mate.

I'm on it like a tramp on chips.

You're a good 'un, mate. You're a good 'un.

In Liverpool, the city swelters in the heat.

Just six miles from the city centre is Croxteth, and the Stand Farm pub.

It's a popular venue for weddings and functions, but the landlord

owes more than £7,000 in unpaid water bills.

Caroline and Ian are here to collect the debt,

or cut off the water supply.

As well as the bills, they'll have had reminders, half a dozen phone

calls, and they've also had a letter giving them seven days' notice that

we intend to disconnect unless they pay, so we're down to this now.

This area has one of the highest crime rates in the city,

so the police are also on site.

Ideal scenario here is he pays his debt.

If he's struggling then speak to us, like everyone else does,

you know, we can always work something out.

But this is a last resort.

You know, we've got to a stage where we've done everything

we could possibly do to resolve it.

Banged on the door... Have you banged on the window?

-Yeah.

-Have you been in touch with them, or...?

We've not been able to speak to anyone, so we're like you.

But this happens every time we come here.

You have to bang on the window.

The landlord turns up.

-Hi, sir, is this your pub?

-Yeah.

-What's your name, sir?

I'm United Utilities.

-What can I do for you?

-I've come to disconnect your commercial supply.

-Why?

-Nonpayment of bill.

Do you have a warrant?

We must be able to work something out here, surely.

We can't... We're here today, if you say we can't disconnect today,

we'll go away, we'll apply to magistrates' warrants, seven days.

Obviously going to be legal fees on top of that if we do that.

Of course. But you're going to have to do that, then, mate.

You'll have to go away and get a warrant. I know it will cost me money in the long run,

but if I let you in now...

I have somebody booked a wedding on Saturday. I can't let people down like that.

-You have a wedding for Saturday?

-Yeah. I can't do that to somebody. Imagine if it was your wedding day.

The landlord's been running the pub for a year

and doesn't have the cash to pay the debt now...

but is keen to prove that money is coming in.

Sorry. I said it was a wedding. It wasn't, it's a christening.

The business is there, if you let me do it.

Every weekend we've got something, every single weekend.

The money will be there, I just physically haven't got it now.

-I'll tell you what we'll do.

-Go on.

-We're still going to apply for the warrant.

-OK.

We'll hold it off, till about 14 days.

Instead of coming next week

and cutting you off, we'll hold it 14 days.

The team agreed to give him two weeks to pay the debt.

If not, they'll return with a warrant and cut his water off.

We'll still apply for it,

just in case we do find ourselves in two weeks' time, the same.

We won't have same situation then - we'll have a power

of entry, we'll have a locksmith, we'll go in and just do it. There's no discussion.

4pm in Rochdale and it's Adrian and Wes's last job of the day.

There you are, Ade, a bit of carpet for your house(!)

Shall I throw it on top?

It's a pretty nasty blockage.

Oh, that's a nice one(!)

Exactly the type of job that you want at this time of day

when you're after an early door(!)

If anybody can clear this, it's the Rodfather here, isn't it?

"Rodfather", that's what they call me.

Adrian and Wes have a choice - to flush it down,

or take the stuff out manually.

It's better just to dilute it with water than push it all through.

It's better for us when I say better,

cos we don't want to be picking anything out.

Too thick, innit?

Just jet it.

Yeah, going to have to, mate.

I thought you couldn't jet where there was lots of stuff in it

cos it might come back up at you.

Yeah, but...but...but Wes is jetting this, so I'm not bothered

if it comes back up at Wes.

There's that many rags and whatnot, it's just not clearing

with the jet, so we'll get the suction off now,

we'll draw it off and we'll see what's what then.

Take the full length off.

It's just, if we keep jetting at it, it's just going to keep

flooding out, we're not really getting anywhere.

That's ridiculous, that much rag, though, isn't it?

I don't think people realise what effect it has, and more often

than not, it affects other properties as well as their own.

All in a day's work.

I don't even want to see it, Wes.

Only tell me if it's clear.

A camera's sent down to make sure the sewer's clear.

I think I'm yet to clear a blockage where there's not been

wipes in the line.

The backed-up waste is all down to a mass of baby wipes.

The construction of the baby wipe is that they'll always stay

in one piece, so until it reaches a treatment works, or until it

causes an effect like it has today, they're just going to stay in there.

Well, that's unblocked.

Right, it's the unattractive bit now of tidying up.

Now it smells.

And the easiest way to describe it is it just smells like poo.

HE LAUGHS

It doesn't taste good, either.

All right, then.

-Any more left?

-That's it, mate.

It's our favourite bit, this, though, cos you know it's nearly home time.

There's hell of a lot of baby wipe in there, to be honest with you.

More than I've probably seen in a long time.

-We took a lot out and he said...

-You've only lived at the property for a while?

-A month.

-Right.

And he said it were us that had done it.

So he took that grid off.

Right.

Yeah, it's always worthwhile educating you while

we're here, of not flushing wipes down...

I don't use 'em, I don't do 'em anyway.

I'm not saying you put 'em down, but there was so much in there,

so if you speak to the landlord about that as well. Unless you want me to speak to him for you...

You can do, if you want to ring the...

well, it's the estate agents, because they don't believe me.

Well, if you can write the number down for us,

-I'll speak to them for you.

-Yeah, yeah, that's great.

Give it the benefit of the doubt,

if she's only lived here for a month.

Enjoy the rest of your night and we'll get out of your way.

-That's great, that, thanks a lot.

-OK, then, cheers.

See you now.

It's back home now, shower, tea, then ready to save the world

again tomorrow, is our punch line, innit, Wes?

That's the one, mate.

Been one of the more challenging days today.

I like to go home clean if I can

but, er, as it proves, it's been more of a difficult day,

but it's rough with the smooth, that's the way it goes.

-See you in the morning, Wes.

-Yeah, see you in the morning, mate.

RADIO: The Met Office has extended its heat wave warnings across more areas

of Britain, as the soaring temperatures show no sigh of abating.

Yesterday, the country experienced its hottest day of the year so far.

In Manchester, the water hydrants are still going off.

It's now nine o'clock in the evening.

Looks like we're going to get wet.

Sean and a colleague,

Dave, are back on the Lower Kersal estate to shut the hydrants off.

There's another one that we, er, get a lot up the other end there.

But with shutting this off, that might start.

So far this summer,

there've been nearly 700 complaints about hydrant abuse.

We need to do this very slowly.

When you shut the valve down, the pressure increases on the back side,

so it can cause bursts and stuff like that.

I've actually seen the kids with one of these keys.

Where they've got it from, I don't know.

And that's all they need to open it.

If the hydrant's not got a cap on it, then obviously

they just put the valve key on, open it and away they go, you know.

And the kids call them fountain keys!

HE LAUGHS

Aw!

It's a lot better than what it were, innit?

Lot better than being 40 foot in the air, innit?

You been in my van?

Me? No.

Think it's time we went.

You all right? Think it's time we went.

MUMBLING

You what, mate?

INDISTINCT

Well, everyone's paying the bill, aren't they?

We're paying for it, you know, everybody. You know.

They just need educating, I think, you know.

That's the third time in about two days, this.

So the other day, it was shooting up there, about 30 foot in the air.

And up there. Just give the bills to the parents.

We're running out of caps, Dave, we've only got a few left, mate!

How many have you got?

Three.

Today's been a really hot day, so obviously it's a busy night.

I think this has been the highest number since the warm weather started.

This summer, it's been the most we've had this summer, definitely.

They work into overtime to deal with all the other hydrants that

have been set off during the day.

We've been at it now since 7 o'clock and it's now 5 to 11,

you know, so we've been out here a good four hours now, you know.

Hopefully this'll be the last one,

but you never know, you never know.

PHONE RINGS

'Hello, Tracey speaking.'

Hiya, it's Dave Ellworthy of Bolton. Is...?

Hiya.

Is everything quiet?

You've had no more hydrants abuses reported, have you?

Not that we need you to go out on, no.

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, it's all right.

We've had a load on at Salford tonight,

we've had ten over here, so we've just...

Oh, my God.

We've just about cleared them off, I think.

Tomorrow's weather is going to be the same as today's.

HE LAUGHS

Dry for everybody, wet for us.

HE LAUGHS

At the Stand Farm pub in Liverpool, the team are back on site.

The two-week deadline came and went,

and the landlord still hasn't paid up.

He's turned up and he's let us in, so yeah,

we've not had to use a locksmith.

There's two police officers with us.

Caroline and Ian have a warrant for entry to cut off the water supply,

and they discover the landlord has been getting his water for free.

That's a scam, innit? They've got a T before the meter.

What's that do?

That loops back on.

-What's that mean?

-They've bypassed that. They're drawing water before the meter.

So, he's... You're kidding me?

No, there. Bypass T. Any Ts should be straight above that.

So that's obviously an illegal split, isn't it?

BOTH: Yeah.

So there's this one pipe going to the meter.

There's now a pipe before it going around the meter, back into the pipe.

So the water's bypassing the meter, so it doesn't register.

I didn't expect to see that.

No, I've never seen that before, so that's a first for me.

They've been told that upstairs is used as a residence,

and under the law they have no authority to cut off that water.

But they finally cut off the supply to the business

part of the premises.

But because your sinks are off in your kitchen, your toilets aren't functioning,

you can't trade as a pub, especially serving food.

He's obviously a bit irate, but it's what we expected.

It's obviously extreme we've had to go to this level.

Not all customers are like this.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day, a bit too late.

In Croxteth, the team receive a tip-off

that the pub is still trading, despite having no water supply.

DRILL WHIRS

Well, you know he's saying he's closed?

He's still left a lot of stuff in here like bottles,

which you wouldn't do.

He's been trading. All this was empty.

I knew he was going to do that.

The landlord has been informed that the team are back.

-In here if you want to.

-Here you go.

Caroline. Caroline. Stand back.

Hang back. Let the police speak to him.

-Someone's obviously tipped him off.

-Yeah.

-Took his time, didn't he?

Our cameras are not allowed inside,

but the team film what they find

as proof that the landlord has been trading.

Somehow the water is back on.

Yeah, yeah, it's connected again.

And the meter has been bypassed...again.

-There you go.

-Get pictures of it as well on this.

Exhibit A.

-I wish I could find a key for upstairs.

-We need to get upstairs.

-Right, have we got all the keys? Where are they keys?

-Behind the bar.

The team were told that people were living upstairs,

but it's clear that wasn't the case.

There we go. Oh!

-Oh, look at that.

-Oh!

Oh, I knew it.

Do that other one.

Yep, pump's on.

Cash register's on. There's a key in.

-Yeah, it's all connected here anyway.

-Yeah.

This is an absolutely massive function room.

The pub now is completely disconnected,

so there's no water going into...

either the domestic or the commercial.

Thank you. We've removed the bypass

that was on the meter and the meter.

-Just grab these steps.

-Pop that in you car

and then I'll...I'll take that and have it made into a brooch.

For me now, this is where we hand over to legal

and say, "Guys, we've done this, over to you.

"You need to take it from there

"to go and get the money via the courts now."

The relentless hot weather means consumption of water goes up by 10%.

In the North West, three million homes

rely on 184 reservoirs to keep their taps running.

Headworks controller Dave monitors nine of them in Cumbria.

Think of the van as me desk and Cumbria's obviously just my office.

So I've got a great place to work.

Wet Sleddale Reservoir has a dam with a tunnel

running its entire length of 600 metres.

Today, it's due an inspection.

This job's all about keys.

We've got that many different sites with that many different locks,

so we just end up having to carry packs and packs of keys.

What you do is you lock yourself in,

but then when you're down here, cos it's blocked off at either end,

you can hear coughs, you can hear somebody talking,

chuntering in the background, you can hear footsteps.

And all it is is your sound bouncing off the wall and coming back at you.

But, yeah, the first couple of times I was down here,

you're like, "Hmm. I wonder...I wonder what that is." HE LAUGHS

I mean, obviously, I'd hope if there was any ghosts

or anything spooky like that, that they're all water workers,

so they'd maybe give me a bit of an easier time about it.

Probably not. HE LAUGHS

We're in, like, a sort of a giant man-made cave almost,

and you get these big massive spiders

that kind of dangle about face height.

So if you haven't been in for a couple of days, like over a weekend,

and you come in on a Monday morning,

you kind of end up walking like that,

just so you don't get spiders in your face.

I know what I'm looking at when I look at these cracks

and I can see, well, it's an old crack.

There's nothing...there's nothing fresh coming out.

And these little tell gauges, one is the scale

and the other is the crosshair.

And you can actually tell by recording over time

what the dam's doing.

I mean, this was built in '66

and it's never...it's never moved an inch, so...

This is the wet side now of the dam,

so you've got 2.25 billion litres of water on this side of the wall.

The supervising engineer always tells me if there's water

sort of leaking through this side that's a bad sign.

If there's water leaking through this side it's bad, but it's...

Cos this is the dry side,

it's not as bad as if it was leaking on that side.

When I'm doing my dam check,

I'm not just checking the dam for any physical faults,

I'm also checking the reservoir, the reservoir margin as well.

It could be somebody swimming, especially in weather like this.

It might be somebody camping.

So, basically, it's just looking for anything obvious.

All the reservoirs and the land around them

are owned by the water company.

The public have the right to visit but swimming is trespassing.

I've spent a lot of me weekends over the last couple of years

having to be the fun police,

because, like I say, people come out of the city

and just assume that the countryside is their playground

and they can just get on and do what they want.

In Gorton, East Manchester,

a hole has appeared right outside a local shop owned by Ibi.

I shut my shop and I put a few crates around it to warn passers-by.

And right in front of me eyes...

it took about 20 minutes to gradually cave in fully.

I hope...they do a good job on it now,

because it could have easily killed someone yesterday.

-Who do I speak to?

-Nobody's sure what caused it.

All right, mate, I'll phone 'em up.

There is nothing in-between the bottom and the top.

It's like something's just...disappeared.

There were some young boys jumping on the edge yesterday.

-Yes. It was cracking, wasn't it?

-Yeah, yeah.

We're not surprised cos over a few months

it's actually been dipping

with the bad weather we had...just before Christmas,

we had all the rain and the snow and it just dipped.

It's like who do you blame?

United Utilities, council or Highways Department?

It's just swings and roundabouts.

The evidence is there, innit, with that bloody big hole.

Network engineer Chris has come to investigate.

This is what they call the upstream manhole,

so this flows that way towards the collapse.

So when we lift these up, what we'd expect to see, normally,

is a good flowing sewer, especially with a biggish sewer.

When we've lifted this up, we can't see what we call the invert,

the pipe at the bottom.

That's giving us evidence that the collapse in the road

is our responsibility to repair the sewer.

But at the end of the day, we need it sorting out.

And...it is an eyesore.

A remote camera is sent down to see the extent of the damage.

The footage proves this is a sewer collapse.

It's deteriorated probably over the years.

This is quite a serious one, as you can see.

Sometimes we have shallow sewers on busy roads

and, obviously, we've got a lot of heavy traffic going over them,

which can disturb the pipes and cause collapses that way.

Right now, evening time, the shop would be bustling,

but I'm just hoping by tomorrow or the day after,

they get it done, because I can't carry on like this.

Do you...do you know how long it's going to take?

Well, if we can get on to it tomorrow,

-I would say between two and three days.

-Right.

That's as quick as I think we'd be able to do it and get it back open.

I know it's affecting your business and I can only apologise for that.

-OK.

-OK?

-All right.

GULLS SCREECH

In Blackpool, the hot weather triples the population...

and demands on the sewers.

Just been getting like a sulphury...smell,

like a really bad eggy odour in the garden.

And it's horrible, it knocks you sick.

So I had to phone up and get it sorted out.

Get cracking, lad!

To cope with the demands more waste-water teams

like Andy and Terry are put on shift.

You see anybody last night, no?

Went for a meal with one of my mates.

Gravy was like jelly.

Oh, it was disgusting!

Know when it's dead thick?

I scooped fork into it and it didn't even go through t'gaps in fork.

Oh, it was minging!

It's a good place to work, is Blackpool.

As you see, it's a nice sunny day today.

We find in the summer the jobs

seem to be just constant and rolling through,

cos of more baby wipes and takeaways being used more often and stuff.

-So we're permanently working, it's nonstop.

-It's nonstop.

You do a job, you finish a job, you complete a job,

and it's onwards to the next job and you keep rolling out.

Bit of hit and miss, depending on what people flush.

HE LAUGHS

-So you've been getting a smell, have you?

-Yeah.

-Oh! I can smell it out here.

-Aye.

-Yeah.

-Might need some...screwdrivers and some gloves.

-Can we gain access through the back?

-Have you got a key for the back gate?

They've had an odour complaint and we're just going to check now,

lift this manhole and see if there's anything going on.

Yeah, I can smell it already.

-Oh, yeah! Bingo! Look at that one!

-Get it up.

-A good one that.

So not very pleasant when you're sat out in the garden

-with your friends or your family.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Not very nice at all.

-It's a beauty this.

So all we're going to do is add a bit more water

to the thicker and denser stuff

just to break the tissue paper down to allow it to flow through easier.

Just...be aware it might spray back again.

-Water on!

-Water on!

See a piece of tissue's caught over the trap

and it just builds up gradually over time.

And it just allows the system to back up.

The essence of man.

Just...take it down the gully there, Terry. Wash it down from gully side.

-Water on.

-Water on!

Just keep it coming, Terry.

And that's how you clear a blockage. HE LAUGHS

It looked like there was some baby wipes in there.

They can be a nuisance sometimes in the traps, like.

This job has only taken 20 minutes to sort.

Best bet is just stick with toilet paper

-for what comes out of you.

-Right. It's probably my daughter.

-Anything else, bin it.

-Right. OK, then.

-But, yeah, other than that we're all done.

We've put a camera through to the main, that's clear.

And...all sorted.

-Brilliant.

-Should smell a bit better from now on.

THEY LAUGH

Just glad the smell's gone now

and can sit down and enjoy a brew without being knocked sick.

SHE LAUGHS

Grab a What Not To Flush.

How to put this politely, like, it's like your mother or somebody

baking and you walk in and you smell the baking smell

and you get used to the baking smell,

but we get used to the smells

that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

-You just get used to it, don't you?

-Yeah.

Doesn't really bother me...ever.

A fat smell, don't get me wrong,

if you get a fat blockage,

a total fat blockage and you jet your fat blockage.

-Sun on it all day.

-And it's been really warm.

-Caking.

Why have you just changed that? THEY LAUGH

Putting it more onto myself, you know.

Get a close-up shot.

Just another day in the office.

THEY LAUGH

Everything we flush ends up in a waste-water treatment works.

Process controller Dave has worked in the Wilmslow plant for ten years.

Wilmslow's quite a posh area.

A lot of footballers live here, quite a few famous people...like me.

We won't get anything too nasty if it's posh people, will we?

It smells of roses.

Just to give you an idea of what job we do, so...that's what comes in.

This is what's going to river.

You wouldn't know if that was clean water or waste.

This now from Wilmslow actually goes into the River Dean,

which is just at the back of us here,

which then shortly goes into the River Bollin then.

So, you know, our rivers are really clean in this area.

We do a really good job.

I do a good job.

Very proud.

The solid waste is processed into environmentally-safe fertiliser.

So these are biological filters

and these rocks have millions of different bugs on.

You won't see 'em with the naked eye, you need to use a microscope.

They'll have millions of different types of bugs on there,

which...eat the sewage.

But first, all the waste is collected in four detention tanks.

The inlet pipe in this one is blocked.

The screens aren't working very well on Wilmslow at the moment,

so a load of screeners have come through and blocked a big pipe.

And, basically, we can't get any flow through to the tank.

With a job like this,

the only way to get this clear is to get in and get dirty.

Yeah, it's not a very nice job, but someone has to do it.

A high-pressure blast of water forces the blockage to the surface.

So what we've done now,

we've managed to push 'em through to this point.

Now...it's action time.

So it's a slow process...a little bit at a time.

Watch what you're flushing down them toilets, you lot.

One big ball of rag that.

-HE SIGHS

-Condoms, tampons,

rags, cotton buds.

Yeah, just the same old up to now.

-HE GROANS

-Come on, you git!

Go on, you...!

I think that's it, boys.

I hope that's it cos I'm knackered. That's the blockage.

It's on my skin. It'll take about a week to get rid of that smell.

It goes in your pores, it's bloody horrid,

don't matter what you wash in it stinks.

For about a week, you still get the odd smell of it.

-No women for a week.

-No women for a week.

-Just home and disinfected.

-HE LAUGHS

Well, we've done a good job. All clear now.

Resume back to normality.

Helping life flow smoothly.

After two weeks,

the hole on Constable Street is considerably bigger.

Go on. Out. Out, Alan. Out.

Right, down now. Down, Alan. Down.

Right down.

The first inspection reveals

a far larger stretch of the Victorian sewer has caved in.

Basically, they've got to extend the dig

back another eight to ten metres, so it's another two frames there.

You can actually see the size of the hole we've got,

so we've got another two holes of the same depth to do as well.

Lift it up!

A job that was supposed to take a week will now be a month.

It's a long time that to be inconvenienced.

As I say, we can't get to the shops or anything.

Fed up with it now, you know,

because it's...it's an eyesore really to look at.

The newsagents/off licence, he's the main worry for us, really,

our most concern is for him cos obviously the business is suffering.

He reckons that he's lost between 60%-70% of business

since this first happened and the road was closed.

Any customer whose business is affected

is entitled to compensation.

The morning trade we've kind of totally lost.

The walk-in trade has dropped,

but especially at this time around four, five o'clock,

when people are leaving work,

we would've had so many cars parked outside.

We don't get that no more...at all.

I am a sun goddess, I'm not going to lie to you.

I've only got a little white stripe.

LAUGHTER

They're all laughing, it's true, though. Honest to God.

The only person I've got to worry about is my husband, I've got to lock him indoors.

He's like a dog on heat trying to get through the patio. LAUGHTER

Unbelievable!

The company's reservoirs are proving more popular than ever.

It's gorgeous. The kids are with me.

It's just one of the best places to be in England anyway.

My children are local and a lot of their friends come here

and the kids have been swimming in the sea in Wales, anyway,

so they're quite confident and they're going to swim in the reservoir.

It's better than Blackpool Beach any day.

You don't find a dirty tampon or anything on t'beach, so...

Rivington, just 20 miles from Manchester.

Andy, a former gas engineer, is on weekend patrol.

Yeah, there seems to be one or two people

just on the edges of the reservoir.

We'll go and have a chat with them in a short period of time.

Erm...I can't see anybody actually swimming,

but there's certainly a lot of people paddling.

Already it's looking like Costa del Rivington.

We're perhaps knocking on for a million visitors a year,

then it's not surprising we do have issues,

and we just do our best to try and keep on top of it.

The temperature of the water is a big issue.

The outside temperature today's probably 25 degrees

and, of course, the water temperature's much, much lower.

People get cramp and that's where all the problems start.

Despite the fact that swimming is trespassing,

Andy can only advise people not to go in.

Good afternoon, folks. I'm one of the countryside rangers from United Utilities.

We'd rather you not go in the water at all.

If you'd like to just have a look at the leaflet.

These has been produced by the local fire and rescue services

-and it just really highlights the danger about.

-Yeah.

And at the end of the day, it's your drinking water. So...that's where we're up to. Okey-doke.

-All right, thank you.

-Thanks for your time.

If the company decided to spend money on fencing the entire area,

I think there would then be a public outcry,

because whilst there are some people

perhaps doing what they shouldn't be just here at the moment in time,

there's lots of families just enjoying the sunshine.

So, we get it from both sides, we can't do right for doing wrong.

And obviously it's your drinking water, so whether you should be

in there or not, it's not a good thing, really, so,

if you'd like to encourage her to keep out.

The last thing they want is to be told what to do.

They've been working hard all week, they come out for relaxation

and enjoyment, and then they get some snotty ranger coming telling them

what they can't do and what they can do.

Network engineer Chris is in Chorley, north of Manchester,

to check a flood overflow tank.

It's the deepest tank in Chorley.

It's, like, 30 metres below Chorley, really.

So, if any flooding happens this is where it ends up usually.

And it gets pumped straight to the treatment works.

You play football down here, I tell you.

The lack of rain means water levels are low.

It's an opportunity to inspect a faulty pump.

It's a pretty big job and it needs to be sorted.

The pump prevents wastewater flooding the town centre

following heavy rain.

Anything you flush just ends up here, doesn't it?

Never see goldfish, though.

Do we? Just brown trout.

There's nowt like putting this lot on on a summer's day.

Chris wants to take a look at the tank.

Cookin'.

Toxic gases are a real issue,

and levels need to be monitored constantly.

And I'll keep an eye on the lads, and just keep checking what the

gas readings are and everything like that while they're in there.

Obviously, we've already monitored the well as well beforehand,

before going in.

Nice up here, isn't it?

Nice and slow I just want to see...

Get, er, have a look at rails while I'm on me way down.

-Don't want it a bit fast, yeah?

-Hold it there, then.

All OK.

Yeah. Woo.

Here's the lads coming down there.

First time I went into a tank, it was pretty, pretty...

I don't know, breathtaking, really.

Cos, obviously, you don't know this sort of stuff's here.

But erm...couldn't wait to get home, tell me dad,

"Ooh! Been in a tank full of shite."

Great, you know what I mean?

Right, here goes nothing.

You've heard people going scuba diving, well,

it's a different sort, this.

Can you hold that door?

It's, er, loads of silt.

Sanitary towels.

Come in, it's, er, it's lovely and warm.

Silt's just basically...

rotting shite, really.

Definitely needs a clean-out, anyway.

Oh!

Yeah.

Loads of silt.

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

BEEPING

I know what's going on here.

I don't think it's doing.

Hey, my gas is going to...

My gas is going to go off.

BEEPING

No, listen, three escape sets have come on.

You're just getting out. You don't need to put your escape set on.

Tell you what, mate, let's just get out, just in case.

When monitors show levels of hydrogen sulphide are rising

the team have to be pulled out.

Well, we just got a high H2S,

so, yeah, the reading's just gone a bit erratic.

Getting to time, as in, get out the tank, so, before the alarm goes off.

Cos it seems that, walking round, hitting pockets of gases, so...

Get you back off the ledge.

When it gets to so high, you think, just before, "Let's get out, eh?"

It were going, like, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. I'm thinking...

-17.

-17.

-That's right.

Right. Go and do some more shit diving soon.

Another team will be sent back equipped with breathing apparatus

to clean the tank while the blocked pump is repaired.

WEATHERMAN: Widespread sunshine from the very start,

with high pressure still sitting over us.

It means that it's going to stay hot, it's going to stay sunny,

as we make our way towards the weekend...

-FEMALE NEWSREADER:

-It was just after three o'clock

when a member of the public called for help.

They reported that a man and a woman were in distress

in Thirlmere Reservoir.

Dave has been called out to Thirlmere.

It's one of Cumbria's most popular reservoirs for visitors.

Basically, I've been on stand-by,

and I've been called on by the duty manager, because we've had

a fatal incident here. Erm, somebody's drowned in the reservoir.

-FEMALE NEWSREADER:

-The woman, aged in her 20s, was pulled onto shore,

and given first aid by a passer-by,

but the 27-year-old man was missing, and a huge search ensued,

and at about five o'clock his body was found.

To be honest, right at this minute I feel sick.

It's sort of the first place you come to if you're heading from Keswick,

and where the view really opens up, so it's very popular with tourists

and people that maybe don't know the area.

And unfortunately, it can attract swimmers,

which is why we've specifically got signage in place

down next to the water that tells people about the dangers.

Dave's boss, Paul, is meeting him at the scene of the accident.

-Hi, Dave.

-Hiya.

He was there during the search.

Two people had been swimming.

One had got into difficulty and escaped, and the other one,

a young male, had not got out of the water.

As I turned away to leave the site,

they did actually bring, erm, bring the body to the surface,

and erm, I left the site at that point.

Very harrowing experience.

Well, you couldn't have done anything here.

Even if I had still been working here as a ranger,

I mean, there's nothing really that we could have done.

It's almost after hours, and without sort of patrolling round

and seeing that somebody's down here,

there's really nothing that we could have done, is there?

Er, I was very upset, and, you know, because...I'm a dad,

you know, you think, you empathise you put yourself in that position.

Erm, very tragic.

And it's life-changing, isn't it? It's generation-changing, actually,

for those people who've been involved in that tragedy.

And they'll never forget it, erm, and they can't turn the clock back.

I love this valley, and I don't want to see it hurt anybody,

and it's the same with the other rangers down in the other areas.

You know, we all have a passion and, you know,

I never want to feel like I feel again. It's a kick in the guts.

The coroner's inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.

It's been over four weeks since work began

on the collapsed sewer in Gorton.

Chris' team is nearly finished.

-How many lads have you had on this job?

-There's six of us.

-Done well.

-So, we're doing all right.

Lads are doing well here, aren't they?

-There's the top layer going on now.

-Yeah.

-You reckon you'll be done by the end of today?

-Yeah, we should be done.

-All the edging as well?

-Everything done, everything sealed.

-And it'll be open again tomorrow night.

-Back to normal then.

-Back to normal for the public, yeah.

-Tomorrow night?

-Yeah.

It's done, it's over with now,

and we move onto the next problem, the next job.

Yes, it's nice seeing the traffic pass again now.

Made a nice job of it, anyway. I'm really pleased with it.

Much better than it's been before.

Wouldn't like to go through that again.

As you can see, this road was a busy stretch of the area,

a lot of cars would be going up and down here everyday,

especially in the mornings and between half three and five.

Look at it now. It's about quarter past four,

there's not a car in sight. They had diversions just up the road there,

and at the top there.

The cars just seem to miss the road now.

And I'm trying to pull them back.

I can only pull them back now if I restock the place up and give it

another booster, but you need money for that,

which I don't have any more because I've lost it all.

I was hoping to hopefully sell up now and if I can't sell up

I'll just have to carry on, until...

..something gives way.

Oh, there's a car here now.

PHONE RINGS

Bear with me.

Jeopardy, Rachael speaking.

In the call centre, it's almost home time for some.

Yeah. Can I get a "Whoop-whoop"?

Whoop!

SHE LAUGHS

All right, ta-rah, bye-bye.

I was just minding my own business.

On the back of the toilet in there there's like this chart thing

telling you about your wee, how healthy you are.

One - you're red, which is obviously you're not right you need to go

and see somebody straightaway!

Carl had that on the weekend cos he was out all weekend.

His is bright red. He was out drinking on the weekend.

-I was on the beer, went on a lads' weekend away.

-Yes.

Come back and it was pretty bright orange.

Anyway, so when I was going for a jimmy whizz, I noticed that mine was,

like, a colour of lager, that's what it said, and I'm not into that,

don't even drink lager.

So, healthy pee is Pinot Grigio,

your dehydrated is your half a lager,

your bright red - panic, go and see a doctor.

-Oh, I think I've been here before.

-I have, I think.

-Round t'back of here?

-Yeah, is that?

-Ah, no, I've been on this one.

-This one here then?

-This on t'corner.

-Yeah, it is.

-Oh, it is, yeah.

In Blackpool, Andy and Terry have one more job

before the end of their shift.

-Will you get out the ball there for us, Ter?

-Nice.

-What is it?

-Don't know.

That's what your blockage was caused by - piece of plastic.

# Going to light it up like it's dynamite

# If I told you once

# And I told you twice

# We gon' light it up

# Like it's dynamite. #

All right,

can I have a large chicken pizza with a tub of chilli, please?

Can I have ham and chicken on, please? Thanks, Adam.

Uh, I'm so hungry.

We love food from here.

-Thank you, squire.

-Thanks very much.

-Cheers, mate, thank you for that.

-See you soon.

-See you, now.

All right, mate, see you later, mate, bye-bye.

Oh, mate, I am not going to be able pick myself up there

when I'm done with this. No wonder yours is a bit more dearer.

It's a bigger pizza, you're on a 12-incher.

What you've got on yours?

Oh, mate, I can't disclose

that kind of information, mate.

That's good, though!

-Ah, me tongue's on fire.

-Already?

-Yeah.

You're sweating! He's actually sweating!

-He don't sweat all day at work on the job, cos he does nowt.

-Shut up!

And then he sweats eating a pizza.

-Cheers, mate.

-The one bad thing about these.

-Good shift, that, pal.

-Cheers, pal.

-Cheers, mate.

-Do you want some chilli sauce?

-Er, no, thanks.

It's pretty bad, that.

It stinks.

We can get lumps of fat the size of that excavator bucket.

Nice!

Where've they gone? They've just sodded off.

It's been a nightmare.

Obviously the water should be going to our customers,

but unfortunately it's flowing down the street.

Be glad you don't have to do it with your bare hands.

Fancy a biscuit?