Some residents are unable to shower or do daily chores due to a lack of water.
Thousands are still facing water problems as a result of a “complicated” pipe repair. People in Chatteris continue to be left with “very low” water pressure as a result of damage to a pipe in the water supply.
Anglian Water previously told CambridgeshireLive around 2,700 residents were affected. Residents have been experiencing problems since January 29. These were due to be fixed on February 1.
However, they have now been told the issue is not expected to be resolved until 5.30pm on Friday (February 13). Demi Scott, who previously told CambridgeshireLive she was unable to work as a result of the lower pressure, is still experiencing problems.
She said: “There is not enough water to clean the house such as clothes washes, dishwater or hand washing.” She and her family are also unable to shower.
Demi added: “We are behind on daily house work. There is no shower water available for us to shower and I am worried about work and not having water.”
Lawrence Weetman said water pressure has been “noticeably lower than usual”.
An Anglian Water spokesperson said it apologises for people still experiencing problems.
The spokesperson added: “These problems are all knock-on issues from a third party contractor damaging one of our large diameter water mains on January 29. The damaged pipe helped supply the Chatteris area, so while it’s out of action while we repair it, we’re having to take water from other parts of the surrounding network to keep everyone on water.
“On a couple of occasions our pumps, which help to push water around the network, have struggled to cope with the amount of water coming through the smaller pipes and they’ve tripped. While our teams were able to get the pumps back online within three hours on both occasions, to reduce the chances of it happening again, we’ve made some adjustments and popped additional monitors around our network so we can keep a close eye on what’s happening.”
The spokesperson said the repair is more “complicated” than expected. They added: “Our priority is always keeping our people safe, and to get this work done our teams not only need additional equipment but also to work under much stricter health and safety rules. This means it’s taking longer than usual to do our work.”
Anglian Water has received requests from people for bottled water during the last two disruptions. A spokesperson added: “While we know it’s really frustrating for your water supply to keep being affected like this, it’s important for you to know that we don’t routinely provide alternative water supplies unless there’s an interruption lasting 12 hours or more.”