Hamilton residents left without water after burst pipe

Feb 4 2010 by Gary Fanning, Hamilton Advertiser

HUNDREDS of residents were left without drinking water for up to six hours due to a burst water main on a busy Hamilton road.

Commuters heading into the town centre from Earnock, Hillhouse and the Chantinghall areas faced delays after the flooding in the Wellhall Road area last Friday morning.

But the quick thinking of Scottish Water engineers helped to reduce the potential impact in the area of a burst eight-inch main.

The Network Operations team redistributed water in the local mains system, significantly reducing the potential impact on supplies.

The repair team working in parallel with Scottish Water operations quickly assessed the damage to the main and began repairs.

Customers, who had been out of supply or suffered from low pressure, were returned to full drinking water supplies at about 2.30pm.

No roads were closed in the area following the burst water main.

Andy Wilson, Scottish Water's regional communities manager for South Lanarkshire, said: “The quick thinking of our Network Operations team certainly helped to significantly reduce the potential impact of this burst main.

“Alongside that the sterling efforts of the repair team, working as quickly as possible to fix the burst, meant that those customers affected were out of water for a very short time.

“We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience this burst water main may have caused.”