40,000 hit by Northern Ireland water crisis

40,000 hit by Northern Ireland water crisis

www.bbc.co.uk

Belfast resident Sharon Hunter: "It's ridiculous NI Water didn't foresee this"
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About 40,000 people across Northern Ireland are struggling to cope without water supplies.

Northern Ireland Water has warned that the disruption could continue for several more days.

Ministers and officials are meeting to take stock of widespread disruption caused by burst pipes.

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It is very unfortunate that his is happening. Lets hope the broken pipes can be fixed as soon as possible. The article goes on to say that there are so many leeks, or burst pipes as they are being called that presser just can not be maintained. The impression I got was that this is being caused by freezing conditions. So what I am wondering is will the system be fixed so that freezing conditions will not cause this to happen again?

www.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by RedGolem


As with the rest of the issues caused by this bout of freezing weather, because it is so rare, we are not prepared for it.

Without actually digging up the hundreds (thousands?) of miles of water pipes in N.I, this kind of issue can happen again. It has to be said though that the temps they've had over the past few weeks have been pretty unprecedented and dipping beyond -10c, which is bloody cold for the UK and more than enough to bugger up any pipe containing water. Remember, water expands as it cools and water under pressure in a pipe is particulary prone to bursting if temps plummet as much as they have.

What I fail entirely to understand is how it can be that only Northern Ireland is being effected in this most serious and wide spread manner.
I live in a town on the South Eastern coast of England, and many of the buildings here are quite old, or were built as council flats (which means in the case of the flats , shoddy build quality, bad materials, and all the trouble those entail) . However, we have had none of this insane bursting of pipes up and down the parish, despite the fact that we did get some pretty damned cold weather for about a month.
Now I could understand it if it was that much colder in Ireland , and perhaps it was, but frozen pipes happen at any temperature below freezing, which ALL of the UK have endured for at least a month. Why is it only Northern Ireland therefore that seems awash with leaks and thirsty people?

reply to post by stumason


Stumason
thanks for posting
ten below c. wow yes that is cold. I was hoping that as they are fixed they could be more guarded against the cold, but as you said they would have to dig up all of the lines. I guess that will be a civil project that will have to be worked on over the next decade or two.

Originally posted by stumason
reply to post by RedGolem

 

As with the rest of the issues caused by this bout of freezing weather, because it is so rare, we are not prepared for it.

Without actually digging up the hundreds (thousands?) of miles of water pipes in N.I, this kind of issue can happen again. It has to be said though that the temps they've had over the past few weeks have been pretty unprecedented and dipping beyond -10c, which is bloody cold for the UK and more than enough to bugger up any pipe containing water. Remember, water expands as it cools and water under pressure in a pipe is particulary prone to bursting if temps plummet as much as they have.

A simple trick learned from those who live in colder winters and far colder temps is before you go to bed at night, keep you cold water tap trickling out a tiny amount of water into you kitchen sink or bathroom sink. This will prevent the water from freezing as it is kept moving. Just have it running a tiny amount.

reply to post by TrueBrit


I can't say for certain, but I do know that in SE England, especially in Thames Water area's, they have been spending billions upgrading from the old Victorian mains to new plastic ones, which cope better with the expansion of freezing water. I would imagine the same for most of England and Scotland. Whether NI Water have made the same level of investment is probably something that will come out in the inevitable enquiry.

i live in the midlands of ireland, i can say that the north got a lot more snow, colder waether than we got down here, we broke our record of -17c, our average was around -10c. up north it was colder. i hope they can fix the problem soon! i know a few people down here that were without water for a few days(up to7) and it was a nightmare! you forget how valuable it is untill its gone! no showers,washing, toilet.....

Originally posted by jrmcleod


A simple trick learned from those who live in colder winters and far colder temps is before you go to bed at night, keep you cold water tap trickling out a tiny amount of water into you kitchen sink or bathroom sink. This will prevent the water from freezing as it is kept moving. Just have it running a tiny amount.

Jrmcleod
That is a method that I have used before also. However, where I am living now the water lines come into the home from a corner, and then to a manifold in the garage. From the manifold in the garage separate lines for hot and cold go to every out let in the home by way of the attic. For that method to work I would have to leave every tap turned on to keep the water flowing in the lines.
Last year it happened twice that I had the water lines frozen to where no water would flow. When they would flow I got ice and slush coming out.

reply to post by jrmcleod


Fine and dandy for household pipes, but not so helpful in the mains, which is where the problem is. They have had so many burst mains they cannot maintain pressure and have lost alot of water out of the resevoirs as a result.

reply to post by stumason


Stumason
you brought up a point that I had not thought of earlier. You said they are loosing water from the reservoir. Does that mean there will be a water shortage when the pipes get fixed? Or has there been enough snow fall to fill up the reservoir when the summer thaw hits?

I was one of those 40,000.
Living here in Belfast is not fun at the minute, hold on, was it ever fun? ummm..
Got our water back after a day of none, heating also packed in but a quick removal of the condenser pipe sorted that out. Yes for a fortnight we were getting tempertures regulary below -10. The night the pipes frooze we were treated to a rather spine tingly -17, sure was cold, the coldest iv ever felt. Anyway I can report, the women & children are enjoying the drama, the wise enlightenend folk like myself had prepared for this. The real blessing is, on the day the water & heating went off I sent the missus to stay with her mum, taking the we one too, the water & heating have been back on since boxing day. Life has been good this last few days, no orders, no drama's, no demands. You get the picture, me with the feet up, fire blazing & playstation running, life is good & im trying to hold out from getting them back till after new years, so IMO long live the water drought

reply to post by DarthPhobos


Darth
thanks for your input
It is always best to hear from people who are in or near the situation we are talking about. So thanks for telling us your experiences.

reply to post by RedGolem


Your very welcome,

I could come saying how its cold & how im dehydrated & I think iv only got 4 days left to live, that would go down a treat here on ATS, but im sorry to inform everyone that we being who we are, we always find a way to make the best of the situation. I dont doubt there will be elderly people having some problems, iv checked my neighbours & they are all still kicking so iv passed that test. To also add, on sunday we had a thaw out day, tempertures rose up to 10 degrees and all the snow that fell & sat around disapeared within a day, so no-one is stuck in the house. Getting hold of water is not a problem, the homes with no water are in select postcodes, like a lottery I guess. I told anyone on facebook to come to mine if they need water. Let me just say this, the media are in the middle of the old fear mongering, as I report to you from the trecnces, no-one has died, were all doing well & life without the snow is back to normal, oh eye, except for the peops with no water. We are sorrunded by ocean, fear not fellow water lovers, we arnt going to die, dont believe they hype

reply to post by DarthPhobos


Star, for posting from inside one of the forty thousand
And yes I got that you are surrounded by the ocean, the problem is you just cant drink that particular water. I am glad to hear that your closes friends are all ok.

reply to post by RedGolem


Thanks for the star, with my tongue drying up it sure feels good to get such praise, keeps the spirits up.
Im just jumping in the hot bath for a steamy soak then im popping out, iv filled the car boot up with 25 2ltr bottles of water, im heading over to BT3 which is a postcode not 3 miles from me where the good folk are dehydrated, im either going to charge £50 per litre or im going to drive down a street were people are queing for water, il put the car in first gear and slowly drive past them tippiling water from my window, boy that will be fun, watching all the people struggling for life chase after me for a water.

reply to post by DarthPhobos


Darth
good grief, now that just sounds cruel.
we can talk more when you get back.

you guys, im just kidding, I would never do such a thing.

A question was asked earlier in the thread about the resevoir, what if it goes empty. Please have a look at the map, Northern Ireland no longer resides beside the sahara deset. We have an abundance of rainfall, as I speak, outside I see a grey mist forming and the ground is wet from todays earlier rainfall. All kidding aside, we will not be short of water, yes people have had their water turned off & the media is showing people cuing up at firestations to get their fix, but they are all having fun, its entertaining the kids & like I say, the women here love the drama. Anyone in dire need for H2O only needs to travel less than two miles to a relative or someone in a different area & they can have all the water they want. In my opinion the media are either scare mongering or they are preparing the masses for whats to come. For the beneifit of ATS'ers, stock up people, they will soon be turning off all our taps, ahh ok you got me, that was a final joke.

Il be back later this evening for the latest on the shocking story gripping the United Kingdom

My bass player was just there last week and said water pipes all around the
city were bustin. theye also didnt know how to handle the snow problems.
no removal services.
Bummer,.

reply to post by RedGolem


They'll fill up well before then, seeing as the snow is melting. The point I was raising was that due to the sheer amount of burst pipes, they are losing more water than they can replace right now. That said, the resevoirs have plenty to keep going but they have warned of random water outages as they rectify the situation.

As said by Darth, this is largely media sensationalism though, as with all things snow related in the UK. With the recent bout of snow, you'd think we were trapped in our homes about to freeze to death if the news was to be believed, but I managed to go to Birmingham and back, trains were fine, roads were clear. All problems are highly localised, usually in rural locations and blown out of all proportion.

As a former resident of Belfast, I can tell you they've had worse and will survive!