Scottish Water heroes plug the leaks and keep Falkirk’s water flowing

20/01/10

Scottish Water heroes plug the leaks and keep Falkirk’s water flowing

Scottish Water staff have been working around the clock in atrocious conditions to keep customers across the Falkirk area supplied with clear, fresh drinking water throughout the big freeze and subsequent thaw.

Unprecedented levels of frozen water mains, burst pipes and horrendous weather has resulted in some customers experiencing loss of supply. Dedicated operations have been undertaken to restore water as soon as possible and crews have been working 24/7 to maintain supplies.

In some instances staff at water treatment works have worked all day and through the night to “perform miracles”, according to regional water operations manager Jim Hassan:

“The team take great pride in their work and a lot of them have missed Christmas and Hogmanay with their families as they have a deep sense of duty towards the job.

“Our team across the Falkirk region has never been pushed this hard before – I’ve had a full time team up in Crieff who have been pushing the Turret water treatment works to the limit to keep the Falkirk area in supply.

“Mungalhead Road in Falkirk saw the water supply shut off from 11pm to 3am so we did not disrupt customers in over 300 properties. We also had a burst in Merchiston Road that required us to shut off the water – luckily it only affected the school, and they were never off supply. We waited until 6pm and had it repaired by 9:30pm.

“In Grangemouth we had a four inch water main burst at Earls Road on Saturday, and our crack squad had it fixed within hours of it being reported. Earlier in January a twelve inch main burst on Inchyra Road and affected 30 properties. We made the decision to shut off the water to homes at 6pm and had the supply back on by 10pm, so water was available the next morning.

“In High Bonnybridge we had to take 20 properties off supply for two hours to fix another burst main, and problems with the Gartcarron supply system meant we had to deliver 12 tankerloads of water a day for several days to make up for the shortfall caused by burst water mains across the region.

“There are still some supply issues and frozen pipes and we want to assure customers that we are still working flat out to resolve any water supply problems. The problems have been exacerbated by access issues due to ice and snow.

“Work has been prioritised in terms of the amount of customers affected. Inevitably this results in single properties or small numbers of affected properties going without water for an extended period. We will restore supplies to customers who have no water as soon as we can. In the meantime we are mobilising stocks of bottled water across the region, although dangerous driving conditions and unprecedented demand on resources have in some cases delayed the delivery of bottled water.”

Scottish Water’s Customer Helpline has been bombarded by enquiries, receiving around four times more calls than normal.

Jim continued: “It is necessary for us to prioritise our efforts in order of their severity, and therefore we would ask customers to be patient. We anticipate that as the thaw widens the rest of the country may experience similar issues. Please bear with us if we take longer than normal to respond, but be assured that we will get there.

“We ask customers who have identified a burst water main to notify our Customer Helpline as soon as possible on 0845 601 8855. Vulnerable customers, such as those with medical conditions, should ensure they are on the Scottish Water Special Services Register to ensure they get priority for bottled water. They can register by calling the Customer Helpline or by emailing customer.service@scottishwater.co.uk.”

Customers with private burst pipes in their homes or gardens are advised to locate their stopcock (normally under the kitchen sink) to switch off the supply and call a plumber. This will help Scottish Water conserve water supplies – if you have a burst on an outside tap, such as a garden tap, please ensure the supply to this is switched off as well.

Scottish Water is keeping customers informed and advised throughout the cold spell through our special website – www.scottishwaterresponse.co.uk. Advice and information on what customers should do if they experience a burst internal pipe and details on how to contact a plumber are available.