30 May 2010
Water supplies have now been fully restored on the Wirral after a successful valve repair and water restoration operation lasting more than two days.
The water network is now operating as normal without the need for tankers to pump water into the mains.
We would like to thank customers for their patience and we have launched a full review so that lessons can be learned for the future.
Scott Beard, United Utilities' regional water network manager, said: "I fully appreciate the inconvenience people have been caused throughout this incident and I apologise for that.
"Our engineers have worked around the clock to rectify a succession of problems that have arisen since we isolated one of the major supply feeds into the Wirral to repair a leak.
"We have done our best to keep people updated. It has been very difficult given the fast changing situation and the scale of the area affected but I understand the frustration this caused and we need to see how we can do better in future."
Problems started for people in Moreton, Leasowe, and Wallasey when United Utilities shut off a 21-inch diameter water main overnight on Thursday 20 May to repair a leak. The repair did not go according to plan and water went off to a wider area than had been notified.
Work on repairs continued through the day on Friday May 21 and by that evening engineers were able to switch the main back on and begin restoring supplies. Despite this, water pressure did not return to normal and this was traced to a different problem with a valve on a 36-inch diameter main which is the other major water supply into the Wirral.
Over the course of the weekend (i.e. Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23) engineers attempted to repair the valve but were hampered due to the depth of the main, the concrete it was set in and overhead power lines hindering digging equipment. Water supplies were restored to most customers by pumping water directly into the system using tankers, but fluctuations in pressure meant that some customers in the Wallasey area lost supply temporarily and others on higher ground had intermittent supply.
The water main network and all supplies were restored to normal operation at 6am this morning (Sunday , May 30)
The entire repair process took more than two days, starting on Thursday night (May 27) with the shut off of a mile and a half section of main either side of the faulty valve. The main had to be emptied into a nearby brook before repairs could start. This was done slowly over ten hours to prevent damage to the brook.
The valve was repaired by 2pm on Friday afternoon, and the main was re-filled. As an added guarantee of high quality drinking water, the main was then refreshed by being emptied and re-filled again. Throughout this process no-one lost their supply.
Scott added: "We recognise the impact this has had on our customers, particularly during some of the hottest weather we've seen this year. We will now be contacting everyone affected with details of compensation. Customers do not need to contact us, we will be in touch with them direct.
"To have two major problems like this at the same time is extremely unusual. We will be carrying out a full investigation to assess what contingencies we could have put in place to help restore water supplies for our customers more quickly."