Monday 5 March 2018

Big thaw leaves thousands without water in parts of UK




Media captionA Chinook has been flying in supplies to cut-off Cumbrian communities

Homes across the UK are facing water supply problems - with thousands of people in Wales and south-east England urged to use as little as possible.
Water suppliers say a thaw has led to burst water mains and leaks.
About 13,000 homes are without water in Kent and Sussex while thousands of properties in Wales and 10,000 homes in London also have no supply.
The industry regulator Ofwat has criticised water firms for ignoring warnings to improve planning.
Companies are warning of low pressure and intermittent supplies as they try to refill pipes which have lost water through bursts and leaks.
In south-east England, suppliers say they have been identifying vulnerable customers and providing them with bottled water.
Parts of the Midlands and Scotland are also affected by intermittent supply.

Water bottles loaded into carImage copyrightYUI MOK/PA WIRE
Image captionThames Water have been handing out bottles of water
A Thames Water operative collects bottled water for distribution in Hampstead in London, BritainImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionThames Water said on Monday 10,000 homes in SW16 and NW3 postcodes in London have no water

At its peak, more than 20,000 homes in London were left without water on Sunday.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said it was "unacceptable" that thousands of homes in the capital still lacked supply, adding: "I have sought assurances from Thames Water that they are doing everything possible to fix the problems."
Several schools in London and Kent have said they will be closed on Monday because they cannot guarantee running water.
Southern Water, which had urged customers to "only use the water you absolutely must", said it was restoring the supply to 5,000 homes in Sittingbourne, Kent.

A Severn Trent engineer fixing a burst pipe as water sprays into the airImage copyright@STWATER
Image captionSevern Trent said it had seen a 4,000% increase in reports of burst pipes compared with a typical day
Thames Water staff fixing a pipeImage copyrightTHAMES WATER
Image captionWork is under way to repair pipes in the wake of the freeze and thaw

Welsh Water said about 4,500 customers were without water and it was dealing with 200 leaks a day with "problems likely to continue over the next few days."
Severn Trent said it had seen nearly a 4,000% increase in reports of burst pipes, while South East Water has set up a number of bottled water stations in Sussex and Kent for its 13,000 homes affected.
Yorkshire Water, United Utilities, Affinity Water, Anglian Water and Bristol Water also said they were dealing with problems while South West Water said it has an "unprecedented number of burst water mains".

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The Government's water industry regulator Ofwat has released a statement criticising the water companies, but it accepts that the severe weather conditions "have undoubtedly had an impact on pipes and infrastructure".
Rachel Fletcher, chief executive of Ofwat, said: "Water companies have been warned time and again that they need to be better at planning ahead to deal with these sorts of situations, including proactively communicating with customers when they anticipate issues."
Parts of the UK are still recovering from the effects of Storm Emma, with more than 100 schools in Wales still shut due to snow or icy conditions.
In Cumbria, the RAF has been called in to flyfood supplies, coal, logs and electrical heating appliances to isolated communities, where many homes have been cut off from all supplies for five days.
And in Scotland, two Met Office yellow warnings for snow, rain and ice remain, with people being urged to travel with caution, while ongoing bad weather has been slowing down water repair works.
Scottish Water said: "Weather and road conditions have presented challenges in maintaining our usual response services and we apologise if you've experienced a delay in us getting to you."



Media captionOne restaurant owner in London was left without water on Sunday

In London, customers said they could not register outages as the helpline was unavailable, while shops reportedly ran out of bottled water in some areas.
"We are putting as much extra water as we can into our local networks and fixing leaks and bursts as quickly as possible," Thames Water said in a statement.
"Please do not use water for anything that isn't essential. This will make a real difference."
Jerry White, business manager at Thames Water, said engineers were "working extra hard" over the weekend.
He said there had been a "20% jump in the demand for water in the last five days".

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The problems came after a prolonged period of cold weather for much of the UK.
Water companies said cracks and splits had been caused by the freeze which are now being exposed as the pipes thaw.
Temperatures in most places increased over the weekend, however, two yellow warnings are still in place.
One, warning of snow and ice in Scotland, is in force all day on Monday. A second yellow warning for rain and snow in Scotland is in place for Tuesday.
Meanwhile, no more flood warnings remain in place although the Environment Agency has issued 15 less severe flood alerts.

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