Liverpool burst water pipe: United Utilities warning to customers, compensation claims and road closures

A burst mains pipe in Litherland left thousands of properties in the surounding area without water over the weekend as United Utilities battled to reconnect homes.

The problem originated in Church Road/Dunnings Bridge Road when a pipe burst in the early hours of Saturday morning, affecting 30,000 homes in the L21, L30, L9, L23, L10, L22, L72 postcodes.

The major incident led to water tankers and bottle stations being set up in the area as engineers worked ‘round the clock’ to repair the 24 inch pipe.

Not all properties lost water completely with some experiencing low water pressure and intermittent supplies.

United Utilitlies said 18,000 homes were reconnected in the first phase of the repair, with the remaining homes due to have water supplies restored by 10pm on Sunday.

A 5.5 metre section of pipe had to be replaced, which United Utilities incident manager Charmian Abbott said took longer than expected.

Warning to home owners

United Utilities has announced that all properties should now be reconnected but warned homes may still suffer from issues such as discoloured water and low pressure as supplies return to normal.

The company said: “There could be a delay in your water pressure returning to what you are used to, as we have to turn the water on gradually after a repair to avoid further problems.

“Sometimes after a repair discolouration to supplies may occur, this is due to the repair work on the pipe and should clear after a short time. Please take a look at our discoloured water page for more information.

“Please be assured, we will be keeping a very close eye on the situation over the next couple of days to ensure all customer’s supplies do return to normal.”

Compensation for residents who lost water supply

United Utilities said some home owners may be entitled to compensation and they will proactively contact and automatically pay any customer entitled to compensation.

Not everybody has no water, some will have noticed reduced water pressure and that may come and go. So it’s affecting different people in different ways

Helen Apps, the firm’s head of external affairs, told the BBC: “"Householders won’t have to write to us. Automatically we’ll make sure that anyone who was without water for more than 12 hours will get a letter from us and they’ll get information about the compensation they’ll receive.”

Road closures due to burst water pipe

The incident caused a number of road closures in the area as Sefton Council liaised with Merseyside Police and National Highways.

A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: "Council officers have established traffic diversions following the closure of the A5036 (Dunnings Bridge Road) between Netherton Way and Hawthorne Road.

“Two road diversions are in place. Traffic will be diverted right from Dunnings Bride road /A5036 junction left towards Netherton Way, or right toward Boundary Rd.

“The A5036 / Church Road is closed at Hawthorne Road, diverting traffic right up Hawthorne Road towards the Tesco store or left up Sefton Road.”