Severn Trent accused of wasting water by not fixing burst pipe in time of drought

A resident has been left frustrated by a water company as a burst pipe by his property entrance remains unfixed after almost two weeks.

The failure to fix the burst pipe comes amid a wave of advice and warnings from local authorities and water companies to save water as the country continues to tackle high temperatures this summer.

Stuart Bell, from Brough, says he has exhausted every avenue after contacting both the council and water supplier, Severn Trent Water.

“I’ve rang Severn Trent every day, we’re going on for the tenth day now,” he said.

“I was told they would look at it, then they would escalate it and then I was told that basically it wasn’t their problem. But can’t we just stop the water? That’s all I want, stop the water, fix it, find out whose problem it was later.

“What about all of the water coming into the foundations or breaking the road surface? I’ve had the septic tank that it’s draining into emptied once already, normally that’s only done once a year, it’s costing me money for their battle.

“I’ve got all the reference numbers and contacts but they seem to have washed their hands with it. It’s beggars belief, I’ve been passed from pillar to post looking for answers.”

Mr Bell said he was most concerned about the waste of water as parts of the country plan to put water usage restrictions in place with authorities gearing up for possible droughts brought on by this summer’s heat waves.

“The major issue for me is the loss of water, when it’s so valuable they keep telling us so save every drop we can. I put it to them that they’d probably be straight down here if they caught me using a hose pipe,” he said.

“They are crying out for us the save water but these companies are the biggest culprits of wasting it.”

Severn Trent, who own the pipe, have themselves issued water saving advice through social media channels in recent weeks, putting the onus on customers to do their part.

The advice suggests using a bucket of water to wash a car, which could save ten times as much water as using a jet washer.

They also say that reducing showers from ten minutes to four will save 300 litres of water a week and to avoiding using paddling pools or reusing the water for other purposes such as in the garden.

Mr Bell has an equine business on his property and is concerned that if the problem persists, it will start to impact on coming and going traffic.

“I just want to find out what further steps there are, because it’s affecting my livelihood because it’s at the main entrance gate which is 24/7 access to the business.

“If the tar was to give way due to a sink hole after all this dry weather then there would be a problem. I fear this is going to escalate into chaos.”

Severn Trent said it was looking into the matter.