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Water back for most but thousands still without

BBC Picture of staff members in orange hi-viz jackets sat on blue crates and surrounded by bottles of water at the water station in Zip World Conwy, with queue of cars in background and BBC
People affected have been told they can collect water from four sites in Conwy, and demand was extremely high on Friday

Thousands of homes are facing a weekend without water due to a burst pipe despite supplies being restored.

About 40,000 homes are thought to have been affected by the incident in Dolgarrog, Conwy county, on Wednesday which forced some schools and businesses to close.

By Saturday evening 65% of customers' supplies had been restored, Welsh Water said, but some may have to wait until Sunday afternoon.

The company's chief executive Peter Perry described the incident as a "catastrophic failure" caused by ground movement, which could not have been foreseen or prevented.

Llandudno West Shore, Water being distributed by Welsh Water then the fire service turned up to lend a hand.
The fire service lent a hand to distribute water in Llandudno on Saturday morning

The damaged pipe, which was in a river, was fixed on Friday afternoon.

Welsh Water said on Friday it could take up to 48 hours for supplies to be returned to normal.

It warned that as supply was restored, some customers may have discoloured water. It offered assurances this was temporary.

On Saturday, Mr Perry said the repair was holding and good progress was being made returning the water supply.

He added that they were "very hopeful" that by Sunday everybody would be in supply, and that was where all efforts were being expended.

The firm, he said, would continue to prioritise support for vulnerable customers and once service had returned to normal a post-incident review would be held and work undertaken to protect the pipeline to prevent it from bursting again.

If necessary, Mr Perry said, the pipe would be replaced.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast earlier, Mr Perry said there had been nothing to indicate there were problems before the "catastrophic failure".

Hundreds of runners pictured in the sunshine in Colwyn Bay ready to begin the race.
Despite some empty taps there was a strong turnout of runners at the 10k Twin Piers race on Saturday

The lack of water supplies and toilet facilities caused Conwy park run to cancel on Saturday, but the 10k Twin Piers race went ahead in Colwyn Bay.

Runners were advised to bring adequate hydration supplies and organisers said they would provide small cups of water at the halfway point, as well as a water bottle at the end.

One runner, Elwyn Evans, said he was holding out hope for a shower after the race as his water on Saturday morning was only a trickle.

Angharad Owen said she had no water at all, but was pleased the race managed to continue.

Angharad Owen pictured in Colwyn Bay in Conwy county.
Runner Angharad Owen has no water but was pleased the race went ahead

Welsh Water said supply would come back on at different times for different people and "discoloured water" was normal after a supply interruption.

Some in Conwy town said their water "dribbled" back on at about 04:00 GMT on Saturday morning.

Eligible households will be paid £30 for every 12 hours their supplies have been affected while business customers will be paid £75 for every 12 hours, as well as being able to make additional claims for lost earnings online.

  • Track how your area is affected here
Paul Hyde Cymru Drones Drone footage of the repair workPaul Hyde Cymru Drones
Drone footage shows the repair work continuing at the treatment plant on Friday afternoon

Bottled water stations have been set up at four stations in Conwy, running in Park Eirias in Colwyn, Zip World Conwy, Llandudno West Shore car park and Bodlondeb site.

Churches across Conwy have also set up emergency water hubs, and are coordinating bottled water deliveries to thousands of affected residents, ensuring vulnerable people have water.

Several schools, businesses and community hubs were forced to shut on Thursday and Friday due to the water outage.

Conwy Colwyn bay queue for bottled water
"Gridlock" queues saw people abandon their cars to collect water from distribution centres on Friday

The company said the damage to the pipe, which was in a river, had been caused by pressure from rocks.

The network is almost 900km (560 miles) long and includes 13 underground storage tanks, the largest of which is the size of nine Olympic-size swimming pools.

In a joint statement the Welsh government's deputy Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies and Transport Secretary Ken Skates said a major incident had been declared, with 23 schools closing on Thursday and 40 shutting on Friday.

Irranca-Davies said he had discussed the matter with Mr Perry while Skates met with Conwy council leader Charlie McCoubrey.

Officials, they said, had been in contact with Defra and the UK government's emergency response hub, COBRA.

Extra water had been supplied from Scotland and England

"[Welsh Water] are working as quickly as possible to get supplies restored to homes and businesses in the affected areas and, with local public services, they are focused on ensuring that the most vulnerable households are safeguarded for as long as the incident lasts," Irranca-Davies and Skates said.