Scottish Water has apologised to customers left waiting for help with burst and frozen pipes.
It said it had been under “severe pressure” with calls coming in from across the country, but had managed to keep supplying the “vast majority” of homes and businesses.
The comments came as problems continued in parts of Perthshire and Angus, including a burst water main in Perth that resulted in the water supply to around 90 properties being shut off for repairs.
Some homes in Blair Atholl were expected to remain without water until Thursday, with bottled water available at the Atholl Arms and Bridge of Tilt hotels.
Repairs were also under way on a burst water main at Panmure, near Monikie.
Peter Farrer, Scottish Water’s customer service director, said, “While we have managed to keep the vast majority of our five million customers in water during the unprecedented and prolonged cold weather, we now believe that about 400 properties are still without water as a result of frozen or burst pipes in their homes and gardens or on the Scottish Water network.
“We apologise if our communication to these customers and our service did not meet our usual high standard.
“I want them all to be reassured that all resources are being targeted at these frozen pipes to get them fixed, unfrozen or replaced to get their water supply back on.”
He added, “It doesn’t matter if it is our pipe or the customer’s pipe we will look to help where possible.
“Our systems were under severe pressure with the volume of calls for help.
“While we managed to respond to most of these, the sheer volume meant that some of our customers had to wait for service. For this we are sorry.”
Mr Farrer said that the Met Office had confirmed that last month was the coldest December on record.
He said, “For Scottish Water that has meant dealing with the deepest frost we have ever seen in the ground, affecting not only our water infrastructure but the infrastructure of our customers’ pipes.
“When engineers dig down they find pipes with lumps of sheer ice blocking the flow of water. The prolonged freezing weather has penetrated the ground to a depth of several feet.”
Repairs to 1800 burst pipes were made last month, Mr Farrer said.