Water nightmare

Following the collapse of the water supply across the North West as mains pipes burst because of sub-zero temperatures, residents have launched scathing verbal attacks against Northern Ireland Water (NI Water).

Mrs Gwen Lindsay of Ardground told the Sentinel the first indication the area was bereft of water came at around 8pm on Boxing Night. And, after persistent calls to the NI Water Helpline in the following 36 hours she was given no definitive time scale as to when the service would be restored.

"There are people out in the streets shovelling snow and ice, letting it melt and using it to flush their toilets. We have had no water since Saturday night and we can't wash or clean our dishes," she said before the water was restored yesterday.

The Killaloo resident, who has a disabled child, also said that if the residents of the area had been able to get out to get supplies of bottled water they would have done so. And, Gwen claimed that when she asked the NI Helpline why bottled water had not been supplied to the area, she was told that in order to furbish affected areas with bottled water, engineering staff would have to be taken off repair duties.

"Another operator told me that the pipe repairs had been made but the supply had not been switched back on in order to let the reservoir build back up again," said Gwen.

Mrs Lindsay said she understood that the severity of the weather had caused a "crisis" in the water supply but she thought NI Water had not got solid enough contingency plans to cope with periods of emergency.

Gwen's mother-in-law, 70-year-old Eleanor Lindsay, who lives at Kildoag Road said she too queried the efficiency of NI Water's coping mechanisms.

"When I phoned the helpline all they did was take my name and postcode and kept on repeating the same story. I can't go out in this weather, I'm afraid to. I suffer from arthritis and I'm awaiting a knee replacement.

"I can understand that this is a crisis and they need to let water build up again in the reservoirs, but couldn't they let us have a supply for a couple of hours and then switch it off again?" said Eleanor.

On Goshaden Road, Monica Fee said yesterday the village of Goshaden itself had water but homes on her road had had none since Boxing Night.

She said she had seven guests staying over the Christmas period and confirmed that, as in other rural parts, people in the area were melting snow to flush toilets.

Her next door neighbour, Christine Whiteman, had the extra problem of having no heating because water was required for the heating system. The Whitemans had to buy electrical heaters to provide some warmth for the family.

Mrs Fee said she too had been told that engineers would have to be taken away from trying to tackle the problem if residents wanted water delivered to homes.

She added: "Some people in this area have young children. This is totally unacceptable. It's been a nightmare, we are all furious with the way this has been handled. If they could even have given us some idea of how long this would take, or get water to us. People here believed we had a right to get water but were told it would take people away from fixing the problem."

On Monday, NI Water Helpine had taken 4,000 calls within a 24 hour period highlighting difficulties with the water supply across Northern Ireland. The service was forced to bring in extra staff to cope with the volume of calls.

A spokesperson from NI Water told the Sentinel: "Water supply to a number of areas across Northern Ireland continues to be affected by the recent sub-zero temperatures which have caused a significant number of bursts within customers' homes and which have also affected parts of the watermain network. The areas currently experiencing difficulties with their supply include Omagh, Ballymoney, Claudy, Dungannon, Dungiven and Limavady.

"Due to the significant number of bursts within private properties, the NI Water supply network is currently experiencing unprecedented demand as water continues to run within these premises. NI Water is asking all keyholders to check their premises for leaks and bursts and to take immediate action to repair them.

"A major incident team has been set up in NI Water's head office to co-ordinate response teams across the province and work is ongoing to find and repair burst watermains.

"We are grateful to customers for their continued patience while we try to restore supplies across Northern Ireland and we apologise to customers for any inconvenience. All that can be done in the current weather conditions is being done."