Scottish Water has apologised to customers whose homes were flooded twice in a week after a major water main burst.
The water company said its teams have been working through the night after a major pipe ruptured, flooding the Meikle Inch Lane area of Bathgate, with water causing damage inside 20 homes. Engineers immediately isolated the damaged water main and rezoned supplies.
West Lothian Council and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service were also mobilised and worked through the night to help resolve the issue.
Mark McEwen, Scottish Water’s customer service general manager, said:
“We apologise unreservedly for both these incidents which have taken place over such a short period of time.
“We have had teams on site all day doing everything they can and substantial progress has been achieved with the clean-up of customers’ properties and providing the necessary support.”
Senior executives from Scottish Water attended a public meeting with local residents on Sunday afternoon to discuss the problem - Fiona Hyslop MSP was among around 200 people turned out for the meeting, including
Scottish Water told the meeting that a full investigation would be carried out to establish why the main - a 27 inch pipe which normally supplies water to 25,000 properties - failed twice in a few days.
The utility has also pledged to do everything possible to avoid bringing the affected main back into service before the investigation is completed.
Mark McEwen added:
“We are committed to fixing this issue to ensure no further reoccurrence. We have taken immediate action to drain this section of main and will not return it to service at this stage unless absolutely necessary.”
“We apologise unreservedly for the inconvenience caused and thank affected customers for their patience and understanding. Our priority is to make sure this cannot happen again.”
The main also serves over 25,000 properties across Bathgate, Blackburn and Livingston – Scottish Water has rezoned supplies to keep customers in water.
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