Darwen residents speak out over lack of water in baking temperatures

Teams from United Utilities have been attempting to fix the pipe on Old Farmside in Ewood.

The problem caused no water or low pressure in the BB1, BB2 and BB3 areas on what was the hottest weekend of the year with temperatures reaching over 30 degrees.

Water tankers are pumping supplies directly into the water network to help boost the pressure in the area. Bottled water stations have been set up at Witton Park and Pleasington Playing Fields.

United Utilities have now anounced they had now set up a third water bottle station in Market Square in Darwen. The company has this evening announced that many customers should be able to return to normal mains supply by around 6.30pm. The remaining customers will gradually see their water pressure improve over the course of the evening.

Speaking earlier this afternoon, Richard Hanlon, who lives on Harwood Street in Darwen, said he knew of many people in the same situation as him.

He said: “We need some answers. We just want to know what is going on and when this problem will be fixed so we can make relevant plans.

"Darwen has again been ignored and we have been left to fend for ourselves. 

“We, ourselves, have been without water for 29 hours in 30 plus degrees heat. There was someone going around delivering water to vulnerable residents.

“We drove up this morning to Pleasington in the searing heat but the queue of cars was massive and we couldn’t cope in the heat so we turned round. We ended up sourcing our own water from a supermarket in Chorley.

“Some are queuing to receive two 500 ml bottles of water, which they will have sweated out by the time they reach the front of the queue!

“With Darwen being affected I cannot understand why they would not put the water stations in Blackburn?

"What about elderly people in Darwen who can’t drive anywhere?

“We are not talking electricity, or gas – this is water -during a heatwave. This is a public health emergency.”

Mr Hanlon said the family were meant to be going on holiday tomorrow (Monday) but would not be able to go as they did not want to leave their 20-year-old with serious health conditions without running water.

He added: “This has massively affected a lot of people around here and we have been let down.”

Residents spoke of their frustrations at not being able to travel to Blackburn

Beth said on the LT Facebook page: “Both sites next to each other and miles from Darwen and Oakdale - its ridiculous."

Donna added: “This should be distributed to those affected, not those affected having to rely on others, use petrol, money for taxis or public transport to go and collect the water.”

Susan said: “Witton and Pleasington are a long way from Jack Walker Way, what do you do if you don’t have transport?”

The work is being conducted in the rear end of a property on Old Farmside (below), which is just off Jack Walker Way.

United Utilities said the water main was 5m underground, 'as deep as a two-storey house which makes the excavation difficult'. 

The company said they had ben keeping residents updated on the work regularly via text and on their website.

In the latest update United Utilities said: “The water on wheels tankers will remain in the areas impacted to assist with attempts to get customer’s taps flowing again. 

“Our teams are currently setting up a third bottled water station in the Darwen area, and we hope to be able to provide more details on this shortly. As soon as this is in place we will let you know.

“We’re really sorry for the disruption to your supply and we will keep you updated as we progress with the repair here.”

Phil Sweeney, incident manager for United Utilities, said: “We are very sorry for the inconvenience this is causing, and we do understand how difficult it is for customers particularly during such hot weather.

“The good news is that all customers should see their water supply return this evening. Our engineering teams have been working tirelessly to isolate, dig down and repair the pipe and this work is continuing. 

“Our bottled water stations have been very busy and we have also been supporting care homes and vulnerable customers with home deliveries of bottled water.  We’ve been working closely alongside Blackburn with Darwen Council to make sure we get the support to people who need it most. 

“While our immediate priority is to restore water supplies, I want to reassure customers that we will be making automatic compensation payments to anyone who has gone without water for more than 12 hours.  Householders affected do not need to contact us, this will all happen automatically.

“We thank everyone for their patience.”