Thousands in west Devon remain affected after burst water pipe

Thousands of Devon households affected by a burst water main will receive £200 in compensation, South West Water (SWW) has confirmed.

Plymouth MP Fred Thomas said the water company had told him the sum would be credited to the accounts of affected household customers, while businesses would get bespoke compensation packages.

About 13,000 properties in Plymouth and Tavistock lost water after a pipe burst on Sunday.

On Tuesday 9,500 properties were still without water but David Harris, SWW’s managing director for water services, said the aim was to “have everyone back on water by the time they wake up in the morning”.

A spokesperson for the water company said teams were “carefully recharging the network” to fully restore supplies for its customers in places including Tavistock, Bere Alston and Yelverton.

“This is a large and complex system, and it needs to refill properly and safely before we can bring it fully back into supply,” they said.

“That’s why it may take a bit more time for all customers to see their water return.

“Our absolute priority is getting supplies back to everyone as quickly as we can, and we want to thank customers for their continued patience and understanding.”

Horrabridge Primary and Nursery School said it was closed on Tuesday due to having no water.

On social media, the school said: “Apologies for the delay but we have been trying to contact South West Water for further information however they haven’t been able to give us any further information so with that in mind we will unfortunately have to remain closed today.

“Water collection points are open and available, we will keep you all updated of we are given further information.”

Whitchurch Community Primary School, in Tavistock, also said it had taken the decision to close and apologised in advance for any disruption caused.

Nuffield Health Devonshire leisure centre in Derriford, Plymouth remained closed on Tuesday morning due to the issues.

Plymouth Marjon University was also closed on Tuesday and the campus, including the Marjon Sport and Health Centre, is due to remain closed on Wednesday.

In a post on Facebook, Fred Thomas, MP for Plymouth Moor View, said he had spoken with SWW CEO Susan Davy who said water would be back on “first thing tomorrow morning”.

He said Ms Davy had also outlined to him the compensation customers would receive.

“Susan tells me SWW will put £200 credit into the account of all {affected} household customers,” he added.

“Businesses will have bespoke compensation packages to be determined. Any businesses are welcome to email me for support with that.”

John Blanchard, who lives in the Woolwell area of Plymouth, told the BBC that despite SWW saying the problem had been fixed, his house still had no running water.

He said: “We have had several SMS/TXT messages saying it’s fixed and that out of kindness they will compensate us.

“Actually, according to Ofwat, compensation is mandatory.

“But really I think we all just want to be told the truth on when we will have water again.

“Considering how much we pay for keeping the CEO and board, is it to much to ask?”

Sir Geoffrey Cox, MP for Tavistock, said he had pressed the water company to set up adequate water stations and ensure vulnerable residents were supplied with bottled water.

He said he had requested early details of the compensation customers should receive by law for the disruption, which he described as “part of a worryingly increasing pattern of poor service” from SWW.

SWW said its most vulnerable customers had received “prioritised support” throughout the incident and it would continue to provide bottle water where needed.

The company said bottled water stations remained open for anyone who needed them while the system refills.

They are at The George Park and Ride, Bere Alston Bowling Club, Knightstone Tearooms in Yelverton and Morrisons in Tavistock.

Mr Harris said the burst inlet pipe had been repaired and work had begun to refill the network but it would “take some time” due to air in the hundreds of miles of pipes.

He said teams had also been “working around the clock” to restore water back to properties as quickly as possible.

He said: “This is a bit of a tricky task. There’s hundreds of miles of pipes that we have to fill with water and expel air from so that’s going to take some time.”

SWW has been liaising with local schools, said Mr Harris.

“We are working with schools to keep them open, and we are conscious of the impact it has on parents of those schoolchildren,” he said.

“We are doing this as quickly as we can and we are very sorry to our customers that this has happened.

“We didn’t plan this, this is certainly not something we would want to happen, but we have responded as quickly as we can and responsibly in a way that’s not going to cause more problems and more delays on our customers by doing it the wrong way.”

Mum-of-three Morwenna Roesner, from the Tavistock area, said her family has been without water for more than 36 hours.

After complaining to SWW six times since Sunday, she said her household received six bottles of water at 10:00 GMT on Tuesday.

“Whilst it’s frustrating to not be able to do our dishes or wash our hair, there is an importance to have a drink and stay well,” said Ms Roesner.

“Staying hydrated is really important for lots of our medications and I’m sure there are so many people in the same boat who aren’t being provided for right now.”

South West Water said compensation payments would be available to those affected, “as a gesture of goodwill and to make amends”.

In a message to customers on social media, it said: “We understand how crucial access to water is, and we are committed to providing you with fair compensation for the inconvenience experienced.

“We will provide further updates on the specific compensation amounts in due course.

“We’re grateful for everyone’s patience and understanding while we’ve worked to put things right.”

Mr Harris added: “We follow the regulator Ofwat who set out guaranteed standards for compensation which means customers who lose supply for an extended amount of period are entitled to automatic compensation.

“We won’t only be paying that, but we will be keeping that under review depending on how long it takes us to get the full network restored.”