Are United Utilities under pressure? (From Northwich Guardian)

Are United Utilities under pressure?

8:20am Thursday 31st January 2013 in News By Emma Rigby

WINCHAM residents are putting on the pressure after years of struggling to fill up their baths.

Low water pressure has been an ongoing nuisance in the village for more than 20 years, leaving residents frustrated with water providers United Utilities (UU).

Hewitt Grove resident Peter O’Hollaran, raised the issue at the January meeting of Wincham Parish Council, of which he is chairman, and is now compiling a list of suffering residents.

He said: “I will take great delight in collating the information and making more of a nuisance of myself with UU.

“Let’s be honest, if we had a choice we would not be buying our water from them.

“It has been going on for years.

“We have lived here for 20 years and it has always been bad.

“Every time we phone UU they check the pressure and say it’s fine but then as soon as we put the phone down it’s terrible again.

“When my wife was working as a nurse she would come home from work and wouldn’t be able to have a bath because the pressure was so low.

“I phoned UU and they told me they manually turn the pressure down at 10.30pm – I explained that my wife needed to have a bath and they said they would change it to 11.30pm.”

The final straw for Wincham came earlier this month, when the village’s water supply was completely cut off due to contractors working on the junction between Manchester Road and Griffiths Road.

“For me this was just the final straw,” said Peter.

“According to their own guidelines we should be able to fill a one gallon container in 30 seconds but we’re running at 32 seconds on a good day.”

Mark Donaghy, of UU, said the water provider is sorry to hear Peter is having problems with his water supply, although no other customers in Wincham have complained, with everything operating “absolutely fine.”

He said: “We have not been contacted by any other customers in the Wincham area about water pressure issues and everything is operating absolutely fine.

“The pressure for the whole area is automatically adjusted from 11.30pm to 5am every night. We do this in many different parts of the region to reduce the risk of leakage because late at night the demand for water drops, raising the pressure inside the mains, which can cause leaks and bursts, so it’s in everybody’s interest we do this.

“However, even between these hours, the pressure remains well above the minimum standard and should not cause people any inconvenience.”

If you are experiencing issues with your water supply, contact United Utilities on 0845 746 2200 or call Peter on 01565 733319.