CONCERNS have been raised after an estimated 1.3 million litres of drinking water flowed into a nearby river after a leak in Acton Bridge ran unchecked for six months.
The leak sprang in January at the control house for the Canal and River Trust’s (C&RT) swing bridge, which carries the A49 over the River Weaver.
The leak was not deal with until mid-July.
A nearby resident, who asked not to be named, reported it to both C&RT and United Utilities (UU) on several occasions, starting in January.
He added he knows other people who also reported it to C&RT.
Both organisations deny responsibility for the leak, each foisting it on the other, though UU has confirmed it repaired it ‘as a gesture of goodwill’ on Friday, July 18.
The resident said he measured the flow, which was running from the building and over the towpath, estimating it to be a consistent five litres per minute.
Over the course of six months, this adds up to a staggering 1,300,000 litres.
For comparison, a village the size of Weaverham with a population of 6,500, gets though less than 975,000 litres in a day.
“The leak was quite visible to the public," he said.
"It left a slippery river across the public right way as you go under the bridge.
“When I told C&RT back at the start of the year, they said they were aware and were looking into it.
“But apart from clearing the unsightly weeds which sprang up around it over the months it leaked, it did absolutely nothing.
“When I reported it to UU, they said they were powerless to do anything either as it was on C&RT land.”
C&RT have disputed the size of the leak but not its duration, though it suggested no alternative figure.
The resident added: “Given the hosepipe bans this year, I’m sure many people will be angry about the wasted water and laziness of C&RT.
“Local residents were even complaining of low later pressure.
“Another concern is the foundations of the building where the leak came from.
"They may have been affected by the growing amount of water underneath.
“The building already has a monitored crack due to its age.
“It controls the swing bridge on the busy A49, so if subsidence occurs and the building becomes unsafe, there’ll be major tragic disruption around Weaverham and surrounding areas.”
Before the leak was eventually fixed, a C&RT spokesman said: “Our charity has escalated the issue with UU as the leak is before our stop tap, which means the water is escaping before the point we can shut off supply.
"The pipework and infrastructure are therefore unlikely to be owned by us.
"The leak was considerably less than suggested and did not threaten the trust’s building or the operation of the bridge.”
A UU spokesman said: “A water leak at the Acton Swing Bridge building was reported to us on Saturday, July 5.
“The leak was located on the private supply pipe within the boundary of the property.
“Although this is not part of UU’s network, we carried out a repair on Friday, July 18 as a goodwill gesture.”
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