Some Blackburn households ‘may be still without water’ after burst pipe

Some residents in Blackburn and Darwen may still not have running water, United Utilities said.

The update comes after a pipe burst this weekend, causing water supply problems across the county.

The burst pipe at Old Farmside in Blackburn’s Ewood area caused some houses to lose water pressure while others went without water for more than 30 hours in sweltering temperatures.

A fleet of tankers was dispatched to pump water into the system and three water bottle stations were established.

As of Sunday evening (August 14), United Utilities said engineers had managed to bypass the blackout and many customers “would see a return to normal utility power.” The water pressure would then improve for the remaining customers over the course of the evening.

SEE ALSO Residents without water on the hottest weekend can expect normal supplies

United Utilities issued an update today (Monday) apologizing again for the supply disruption caused by the water main burst.

A spokesman said: “Repairs to the burst main line are continuing. Due to the complexity of the repair and the depth of the main it is taking longer than expected to fix safely. Please rest assured our teams are working non-stop to get the taps working again and will continue to do so until things are back to normal.

“We managed to find a temporary solution by bypassing the burst water main and redirecting the water supply, allowing us to re-tap most of our client’s water.

“However, in doing so, we ran into another issue and some customers may still have no water or poor pressure. We are working to resolve this as soon as possible.”

Free bottled water stations will remain open on Monday at Witton Park and Pleasington pitches.

A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said: “We understand that the situation regarding the water outage in some areas of our county is deeply frustrating. Some households have been without running water since Saturday during an exceptionally hot weekend.

“We want to reassure residents that we are working closely with United Utilities as the lead agency, as well as other partners in the area. We have worked with United Utilities to help identify vulnerable customers and as a result the original list of vulnerable customers has now been increased meaning more vulnerable residents are being supported.

“Vulnerable customers are being sent bottled water to their homes by United Utilities. Over the weekend we helped United Utilities identify and set up three water distribution points.

“Two of these have remained open to support customers in the Blackburn area. We encourage all vulnerable customers who have not registered with United Utilities to do so by calling 0345 072 6093. This ensures that bottled water is dispensed at these people’s homes.

“We understand the work was complex due to the depth of the water line making it difficult to safely access and begin repairs, and United Utilities staff have been working around the clock to restore the water supply.

“If a resident does not have water and wishes to use the shower facilities at two of our Council Leisure Centers (Blackburn and Witton), you are welcome to do so during normal opening hours. Finally, thank you for your patience during these extremely challenging times.”

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