Residents in Newport were without water earlier this morning (Wednesday) after a 10inch water main burst in the High Street.
The problem was reported to Southern Water at 3.30am and supplies were shut off in order to fix the problem.
A Southern Water spokesman said:
“”We shut supplies off to fix the burst at just after 5am but it then became clear that the repair could not be made immediately.
“Water was turned back on at just after 6am to make sure that people in the area are still able to have their morning showers and cups of tea.
“While this means the leak is still ongoing, the water is flowing into a drain.
“Supplies will have to be shut off mid-morning in order for us to fix the burst pipe and we are looking at the optimum way of doing this while maintaining water to as many homes as possible.”
Possible traffic delays
They went on to say,
“Temporary traffic lights are in place outside 114 High Street and will remain until the burst is fixed.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience this emergency repair may cause but we can reassure customers that we will get things back to normal as soon as we can.”
Update 9:18am:
A Southern Water spokesman said:
“Having done our best to maintain supplies during the morning rush, we are now shutting off the water in the area.
“This will allow us to get started on the repair, with the aim of ensuring that supplies are returned this afternoon.
“We estimate that about 1,200 properties will be affected by this temporary interruption to supply but we are doing everything we can to make sure this emergency repair affects as few people as possible for the shortest time possible.”
Update 14.44:
A spokesperson from Southern Water said,
“We wish to apologise to our customers for the problems experienced following the interruption of water supply earlier this morning.
“The interruption of water supply to the area was caused by repair work being carried to a 10” water in the High Street, Newport.
“Water supplies to the area were restored at approximately 13:15hrs and reinstatement work to the road is now taking place.”
Image: Conmedy_Nose under CC BY 2.0
