Tens of thousands without water in N.Ireland

Tens of thousands of people in Northern Ireland were struggling without water on Wednesday after burst pipes hit supplies to around 80 towns and villages.

Northern Ireland Water (NIW) said an unprecedented number of leaks caused by thawing temperatures had put "big pressure" on its systems.

Some families had no running water for eight days and arrangements are being made to have tankers strategically placed across the province.

Local councils are working to supply water and offer free showers to people without a mains supply and the Scottish Executive has offered to supply bottled water if required.

Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy is due to meet officials later to consider ongoing operations.

NIW said it was alternating supplies from reservoirs in a bid to give every area a limited supply.

Liam Mulholland, head of customer services for the company, said the circumstances were unusual and unprecedented.

"It is understandable that people are angry," he said.

"The level of contacts that we have had is unprecedented. In a normal day we would take about 1,000 calls. But that has risen by 600 percent.

"We are doing everything we can. We have more than 300 staff out seeking and fixing bursts."

More bottled water was due to be distributed in various parts of Belfast, one of the areas hardest hit.

Source - Yahoo.