What message does Victorian water main replacement give?

Walking through Bayswater this weekend the extent of work underway by Thames Water and its contractors to replace London’s aging and leaking water network was very apparent. But the question posed is what message is it intended to convey to the public by this work?

The contractor is to be applauded for clearly labelling the work “Victorian Water Main replacement. The site itself was clearly barriered off but was a ‘sea of tranquillity’ with no work underway. The surrounding streets were a bustle of activity with all the shops open and workmen on another unrelated job resurfacing the road.

Work at this particular Bayswater site has been underway for two months to apparently replace just 50 m of Victorian water main. We all know that modern pipelaying techniques don’t require two months to replace a short length of water main so clearly the scope must be bigger or other problems must have emerged. But what impression of the UK water industry is conveyed to the general public by this apparent inactivity and inefficiency?