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Emergency water supplies have been brought into Burnham-On-Sea after tap water supplies to thousands of properties in the Burnham area were cut this morning (Wednesday, September 3rd) following a major water main burst at Rooksbridge.
Residents in the area are being urged by Bristol Water to use as little water as possible to conserve supplies following the early morning burst.
Water bowsers and free water supplies have already been set up in the car park at Tescos in Love Lane in Burnham (pictured here); and at Unity Farm in Brean to provide back-up supplies.
Other water bowsers are located at Somerfield in Pier Street, the playing field next to The Berrow Inn, Burnham Memorial Hospital (pictured below), Brook Rd in Rooksbridge and Burnham Holiday Village.
Jeremy Williams, spokesman for Bristol Water, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “There has been a burst main between Cheddar Treatment Works and Brent Knoll Reservoir at Rooksbridge. Bristol Water crews are on site and working to make repairs.”
“However, the storage reservoirs at Brent Knoll and East Brent reservoirs, which are fed by the main, are at low levels as a result. Residents in the area are asked to use as little water as possible.”
4.15pm Update:
Mr Williams said repairs to the water main had been compeleted and that Bristol Water expects water supplies to be back to normal in the Burnham area by 5pm. “We are currently cleaning the mains system and putting through it.”
He added: “The burst water main has been repaired, under the most difficult circumstances for the Bristol Water crews, and is recharging. After flushing, it is hoped that the main may be back in service before 5pm.”
“The treated water reservoirs which have run so low will then begin to receive more water and will start to recover through the night.”
“It is expected that they will be able to cope with tonight’s demand, though we are still asking customers in the Burnham and Brent Knoll area to continue being careful over how much they use so that the system can have every chance to recover. There may also be some instances of poor pressure.”
“We would like to thank all those customers who responded to our request to use less water this morning. Without their assistance, the reservoirs would have run empty, potentially leaving many thousands of properties without water.”
“As it turned out, our information suggests that ‘only’ a few hundred properties were actually affected, with the vast majority either experiencing no problem at all, or simply seeing poor pressure in their supplies.”
“A total of 15,000 free bottles of water were distributed from the Tesco car park today and water is still available from the bowsers.”
5pm Update:
A fresh leak in the repaired water mains has been found and this could now delay the final switch-on of water supplies across the whole area.
7.45pm Update:
The repair to the burst water main appears to have failed, Bristol Water has said. “We are receiving calls from the Burnham, Highbridge and Brent Knoll areas of no water or poor pressure,” said spokesman Jeremy Williams.
“Our crew is on site and we are working hard to solve the problem. We are continuing to ask customers in these areas who have a supply to continue being careful over how much they use.”
“Every effort is being made to ensure that the situation returns to normal as soon as possible. Emergency supplies may be obtained from bowsers deployed at sites including Unity Farm, Brean; Tesco Burnham; Somerfield Burnham; Pier St, Yew Tree Nursery in Tarnock; Playing Field next to The Berrow Inn; Burnham Memorial Hospital; Mendip Rd in Rooksbridge.”
Click here for photos of the efforts to repair the burst water main
