Welsh Water: Supply failings after homes left without water over Christmas

Welsh Water has admitted to failings implicit its proviso aft radical were near without h2o during the Christmas period.

Several villages successful Monmouthshire were inactive without h2o connected Boxing Day aft astir 72 hours.

It comes aft thousands of homes successful westbound Wales were without h2o for respective days earlier Christmas.

Chief enforcement Peter Perry said: "It is wide determination are a fig of areas wherever we should person done better."

Welsh Water said it estimated that astir 200 homes were affected.

A spokesperson added: "We are precise atrocious to each the customers who person been impacted and precise grateful to each our employees who person worked tirelessly done Christmas to reconstruct customers' supplies successful precise challenging circumstances.

"More customers are having their supplies restored passim the time and we're hopeful that remaining issues volition beryllium resolved this evening."

It besides said the process to reconstruct h2o would instrumentality clip to debar the pipes bursting again.

Welsh Water said aerial locks successful the web were causing proviso issues astir Trellech and Llandogo, southbound of Monmouth, with astir 200 properties affected.

Rob Flanagan, 68, successful Monmouth said connected Monday, that helium was utilizing a section outpouring arsenic their proviso had not yet been restored.

From Warwick, Mr Flanagan is spending Christmas successful Llandogo with his sister-in-law.

He said: "On Christmas Eve we arrived astatine astir 21:00 GMT and they had already been retired for 2 hours.

"My sister-in-law called Welsh Water and was told it would beryllium backmost connected the aforesaid day. This is fundamentally the communicative ever since.

"It was the aforesaid each time yesterday and present we are boxing time greeting - nary water, nary motion of h2o and nary much promises really."

Mr Flanagan said helium and his household got by Christmas Day by "using a spot of wartime spirit".

"We were collecting h2o from the stream to flush the toilets, collecting h2o from a watercourse up the road," helium said.

"For drinking h2o my woman went to Monmouth to prime up immoderate 5 litre containers which was a occupation successful itself due to the fact that they were opening to ration the h2o for people."

It besides said bottled h2o was being delivered to "priority customers" and has acceptable up a bottled drinking h2o presumption astatine the Premier Inn edifice connected Portal Rd successful Monmouth.

Apologising for the delays, Mr Perry added: "We recognize however frustrating and worrying it has been, particularly truthful adjacent to Christmas."

Households tin person £70 compensation for each time they were without their h2o supply. Businesses volition besides beryllium capable to assertion for immoderate losses incurred.

Matthew Browning, from Llandogo, Monmouthshire has been without a h2o proviso for 3 days.

He said: "Everyone's conscionable getting a spot smelly and hopeless for a wash.

"We've got 3 successful the house, myself, my woman and our granddaughter - but we've besides had the household implicit for Christmas dinner. It was chaotic trying to get the washing up done yesterday."

About 4,500 properties successful Ceredigion lost their h2o supply for respective days aft proviso pipes burst connected 17 December erstwhile temperatures crossed Wales plummeted.