Northumbrian Water is working around the clock to respond to the impact of the recent freeze thaw weather conditions.
In the last few days the region has experienced everything from sub-zero freezing temperatures and Amber weather warnings, to 11 degrees in Durham today.
This change in conditions is causing lots of ground movement and has increased the number of bursts and leaks in water networks, pipes and plumbing. The operational teams are working extremely hard finding and repairing leaks as quickly as possible to maintain water supplies to our customers.
Additional teams have been drafted in to support across a number of activities and are working non-stop to respond to issues. Everyone can play their part by reporting any leaks via our website and checking for any leaks on your own properties or premises that may have been caused by the freezing and thawing of pipes.
Richard Warneford, Operations Director for Northumbrian Water, said: “We’ve so far managed our network through what has been a very difficult weekend and that’s been down to the great work from all of the teams of people who we have working on this operation.
“We’ve seen the extremely low temperatures and really challenging conditions, especially at some of our more rural sites, and then today we’re seeing very mild temperatures. We are now seeing the big thaw and we know it’s likely to cause more pipes to move and more leaks and bursts to occur.
“We’re being as proactive as we can and hunting down the larger leaks and getting them repaired and fixed as quickly as possible. We have all of our experts working on our treatment works and water sites ensuring we’re doing everything we can to maintain our water supplies over this difficult period.”
Customer phonelines are currently very busy and we would ask that people only call us in an emergency. Customers can report any large visible leaks to us via our website at www.nwl.co.uk/leaks.