Water 'rationed' as engineers battle leaks in the North

Large parts of the North will endure effective water rationing tonight as engineers battle to fix the huge number of leaks that have hit the system.

In the wake of the thaw that followed arctic weather conditions, burst pipes in the main water supply, plus many in private homes and businesses, have left thousands of people without water.

Northern Ireland Water, (NIW) the company that oversees the service, came under fire for failing to cope with the deluge of calls from the public, though it argued it was doing its best to meet needs.

But with water levels running low in reservoirs, officials said supplies would have to be alternated to different locations as work to repair the damage continued.

Sites opened to hand out free bottled water drew queues of people in need, but as many households endured days without water – and with many also having suffered heating failures – the political fallout over the issues grew.

Northern Ireland deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness promised a review of the response to the extreme weather and said the most vulnerable in society would be able to draw-down government funding to ease their plight.

“The recent long spell of sub zero temperatures and snow falls, followed by a quick and dramatic thaw, has resulted in frozen pipes followed by flooding which has affected many people adversely, with some having witnessed considerable damage to their homes,” he said.

“I would like to thank public servants for their hard work over the this period of severe weather in seeking to help.

“I will be asking departments for their assessment of the situation and to bring forward proposals on how best to address, and deal with effectively, situations such as this.

“Further to this we will also be examining the Financial Assistance Act, which we have previously utilised, to see how we can address the financial hardship of those who are most in need over this period.”

He visited the Shankill estate in Lurgan, Co Armagh, where overflowing sewers flooded houses. Mr McGuinness also travelled to Coalisland, Co Tyrone, where burst pipes had drained the local reservoir.

The deputy First Minister repeated calls for key holders to check unoccupied houses and businesses where leaks may have occurred.

There were reports of loss of water supply across Northern Ireland. NIW said the areas set to be hit by alternating water supply covered locations dotted across virtually the entire region.

A spokesman said: “NIW is dealing with interruptions to water supplies across a large number of areas in the province as a result of the severe weather and ongoing thaw.

“Our Major Incident Team has been in operation for the past number of days headed by our Senior Executives.

“As a result of the high water demand being experienced (primarily due to a number of bursts to private supplies), a number of our reservoirs are currently at low water levels and we are trying to rezone and recharge the water network.

“NIW have to alternate supplies from some of our reservoirs, therefore customers will experience a loss of water for a period of time.

“However, it is anticipated that this interruption will only last a number of hours and water will be restored to customers in a timely manner.”