August 10, 2011
Wales
Wales
A resident has spoken out after his neighbourhood water supply was cut off.
Terry Tonge, who lives in Rhos Fawr between Pensarn and Belgrano, was left fuming after work at the Gwynt y Mor wind farm substation resulted in the mains water being cut off twice last week, affecting 1,500 customers.
Mr Tonge said: “On Thursday when I got home there was no water. There are about 400 homes in the local area, and the water was out for about three hours. It happened again on Saturday.
“There was no warning. I got a message on my BT answerphone saying the water was off – but I knew that already!”
Mr Tonge said he was concerned about the young mothers, elderly and disabled people living nearby, and said that the water supply had been interrupted once last year.
He said: “People were going to local shops to buy water. We don’t get any compensation. Apparently they cut through a mains pipe. It’s ridiculous. You can excuse it maybe once, but three times is inexcusable.”
A spokesman for Npower Renewables, the company behind the Gwynt y Mor wind farm, confirmed a three-inch pipe had been damaged once as it had not been listed on plans.
He said: “Welsh Water was called immediately and made repairs. The repairs were not effective and they had to go back on Friday and Saturday.”
A Welsh Water spokeswoman said the incident affected drinking water supplies to more than 1500 customers and that a team was immediately dispatched to repair the damaged main.
She said: “Unfortunately a second burst occurred as supplies began returning to normal and additional repairs were required.
“This occasionally happens as pressure increases in the system and we are very sorry for the inconvenience caused,” she added.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/08/10/residents-anger-as-water-pipe-is-severed/