The water supply in several Fife towns has been restored after a burst water main caused disruption – including forcing schools to shut.
Scottish Water completed repairs to a water main in Star that was damaged by a third party on Sunday.
However, a secondary issue caused issues to continue in Methil, Buckhaven and surrounding areas.
Tankers were brought in to speed up the process.
A water distribution point set up at Levenmouth Academy also temporarily closed after running out of supplies.
Scottish Water confirmed the water supply had been fully restored by Tuesday morning.
Full list of Fife schools forced to close
The following schools had to close on Monday due to a lack of water supply:
- Aberhill Primary School
- Buckhaven Primary School and Nurseries
- Denbeath Primary School
- Methilhill Primary and Community School
- Hyndhead School
- Methilhaven Nursery (At Methilhill Primary)
- Paxton Nursery
- Woodlands Family Nurture Centre
In a Facebook post, local councillor David Graham said: “The water issue does not affect Levenmouth Academy as it has a 24-hour water back-up supply.”
However, Fife Council later confirmed that the academy allowed pupils to leave after on of their water tanks emptied, causing there to be no running water or flushing toilets.
A spokesperson for the council said: “We hope that all the schools that have had to close today will reopen tomorrow, but it will depend on how quickly water supplies get back to normal.”
Scottish Water apologises to residents
A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “Supplies are now restored following repairs to a burst 12 inch strategic water main in KY8 Star.
“Scottish Water responded quickly to a 3rd party damage to the water main Sunday 14th May and completed repairs on Monday 15th May.
“This 3rd party damage of our water main, along with Scottish Fire and Rescue tackling a large fire, caused significant impact on our network and storage tanks, affecting 8,900
“We would like to apologise to customers in the Methil, Buckhaven and surrounding areas that were impacted by this and the delays in restoring services. We were required to undertake a slow recharge of this water main in order to minimise the risk of further bursts on our network and to avoid causing discolouration of water supplies.
We apologise to all customers affected for the interruption to their service and would like to thank them for their patience and understanding whilst we worked to resolve the problem.”
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