Some homes are still without water on Christmas Eve after extreme weather saw supply pipes burst a week ago. Welsh Water had by now hoped to restore connection to all addresses hit by the problems which occurred in Ceredigion as a result of the recent cold snap being followed by a rapid thaw.
Around 4,500 families saw their taps run dry on Saturday December 17 and, while an extensive program of repair work has rectified the problem for an "overwhelming majority" of homes, "a handful of isolated properties" remain affected.
The incident, which also reached parts of Pembrokeshire and even some areas of Carmarthenshire, saw bottled water stations set up at various locations. Residents were given two packs of six litre bottles each to help cope with the shortages.
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Teams of workers also worked through the night to try to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, Welsh Water's fleet of tankers were also on hand to put water directly back into the system.
Welsh Water boss Peter Perry apologised and said that a "detailed review of the incident" is underway and that "lessons have and will be learned" from what happened. In a letter sent out to homeowners, he also stated that the firm it will pay compensation to those left struggling.
It read, "I appreciate that this has been a major inconvenience and frustration for you, your families and your community. We are writing now to make clear to customers that we will be going beyond our regulatory obligations in order to compensate customers, because we recognise we have failed to meet customers' expectations."
Those measures are as follows:
- Household customers will receive £70 per day they were without water, as compensation and to cover 'any additional costs... such as the purchase of bottled water.
- This means, for instance, a household without water for four days will get £280. This will be paid automatically to account holders early in the new year but "it could take a few weeks to process."
- Businesses will be "compensated for every day that they were without supply and any verifiable losses they incurred as a result of the supply failures."
- Welsh Water will write to these businesses "early in the new year" to outline what they'll receive and how they can claim for additional losses.
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