Water misery

The milder weather has led to an unprecedented surge in bursts around the city as frozen water in pipes melted to bring havoc and distress for many families - some without toilet and wash faciliites for 14 days.

NI Water said that there has been a slight reduction in the number of properties with no water and that the supply of water has been increased from 600 million litres per day to 850 million litres per day.

However, a spokesperson added that water levels in reservoirs remains low due to the high number of burst pipes on private and commercial properties.

On Wednesday water collection points were set up at Lisburn Leisureplex, Hillsborough Village Centre and in Dromara, Anahilt and Dunmurry.

The Leisureplex also opened to allow local people to avail of their showering facilities.

Lisburn City Council also made arrangements to collect bottles of water that had been shipped over to Northern Ireland on Thursday from Scotland and distribute them to nursing homes in the city that had no mains water supply.

Lisburn Mayor, Alderman Paul Porter said that serious questions needed to be asked of NI Water but that for now the most pressing issue was to ensure that people had access to water supplies.

"This has been a major crisis," said Mr Porter. "When these issues are resolved serious questions need to be asked at a senior level in NI Water with regards to the handling of this situation.

"For now though people don't want to know who is to blame, they want someone to help. I thank all the elected representatives and council staff who have worked hard to ensure that people in Lisburn have access to water.

"The handling of this has been atrocious and the flow of information from NI Water has been appalling. No one could get through to their helpline and it has taken too long for them to start working with us. It is thanks to one senior NI Water official, who lives locally, that we eventually got some water supply in the city," he continued.

Lisburn City Council will continue to provide updates on the water situation on its website www.lisburncity.gov.uk. For information on water, in general log onto www.niwater.com or contact 08457 440088.