United Utilities water engineers have finally located a faulty ‘talking’ valve which was sending wrong information back to a control centre after a 10-day search.

As a result, hundreds of homes in Congleton either had no tap water or low pressure for days.

The high-tech listening valves are used across the United Kingdom on water and gas networks. The devices are buried underground and ‘talk’ to monitor stations every 15 minutes.

The problem began when workmen repaired one leak  but were mystified when another one started further up the road almost straight away. When the second leak was fixed that one the same thing  happened again and again.

United Utilities commented:

“Every time our workmen fixed one leak, it would mythically pick-up legs, walk a few miles, and burst again. We’ve never experienced this unusual problem before. The Congleton valve had been sending us a few ‘porky pie’ messages.”

The faulty valve had ‘decided’ the 6 inch pipe was not leaking and automatically increased the water pressure – as a result, this then burst holes in other sections of the pipe.

Water engineers spent days working alongside their digital counterparts to find the elusive valve via a combination of high-tech methods, including smart phones, tablets and sophisticated eavesdropping systems.

United Utilities added:

“The valve was telling us everything inside the local pipework was fine. But we knew better, and so did the residents.’

Customers have now been warned that water may be discoloured initially when the network starts again. During the investigation, water inspectors diverted thousands of litres of water to keep homes supplied.