Residents in Forfar whose taps ran dry on the hottest day this week have hit out at Scottish Water for failing to supply them with drinking water.
The water trickled to a halt in Easterbank around 10am on Wednesday, and it wasn’t until eight hours later that it started flowing again.
An irate Roy Greig said his disabled father, who has difficulty walking, had been forced to go some distance to his sister’s house in Goosecroft for water.
Mr Greig said, “That was a long time without water for anybody in the heat we had on Wednesday, but particularly the older people who have difficulty getting out.
“There are also a lot of children in this area and they were outdoors playing needing drinks to keep them hydrated. A mother with a newborn baby was also having difficulty, but when I phoned Scottish Water I was told there was nothing they could do.
“It was policy that they didn’t start distributing free bottled water until a supply had been off for 12 hours. I think that is ridiculous. People need water to drink more frequently in the heat.”
He argued the availability of emergency supplies should be dictated by the customer and not the water authority.
A Scottish Water spokesman said, “When our customers’ normal water supply is disrupted, our priority is always to restore supplies as quickly as possible.
“In this case there was a fault with a pressure reducing valve (PRV) that feeds the Easterbank area and this was repaired as quickly as we could. We assess every loss of normal water supply to customers based on the circumstances at the time.
“The Guaranteed Service Standards in our customer charter state that, where large numbers of customers are affected by a disruption to their water supply, we will provide alternative supplies within 24 hours.”
However he added that during a major incident, drinking water could be delivered to people who may be particularly vulnerable, like babies under a year old, the elderly and those who were unwell.
Customers seeking this service were asked to provide details on their Additional Support Register. He pointed out that more information was available at www.scottishwater.co.uk or via their customer helpline on 0845 601 8855.
He said, “Scottish Water apologises for any inconvenience caused by the loss of normal supply in Easterbank, Forfar.”
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user reggie35.