United Utilities has finally fixed the problems which caused a series of supply failures on the Wirral over the past week. Water supplies to thousands of customers had to be maintained by re-routing water along other pipes, tankers and a booster pump.

Water supplies were only fully restored after a valve repair and water restoration operation lasting more than two days.

Scott Beard, United Utilities' regional water network manager, said the company’s engineers had worked around the clock to rectify a succession of problems that had arisen since it isolated one of the major supply feeds into the Wirral to repair a leak.

Problems started for people in Moreton, Leasowe, and Wallasey  when United Utilities shut off a 21-inch diameter water main overnight on Thursday 20 May to repair a leak. The repair did not go according to plan and water went off to a wider area than had been notified.

Work on repairs continued through the day on Friday May 21 and by that evening engineers were able to switch the main back on and begin restoring supplies. Despite this, water pressure did not return to normal and this was traced to a different problem with a valve on a 36-inch diameter main which is the other major water supply into the Wirral.

Engineer Cecil Thorn watches as the top is lifted from the faulty 36" valve in Upton.

The picture shows the 36" water valve at the heart of the supply problems - the internal spindle used to operate the valve was broken, leaving the valve in the closed position.

Over the course of the following weekend engineers attempted to repair the valve but were hampered due to the depth of the main, the concrete it was set in and overhead power lines hindering digging equipment. Water supplies were restored to most customers by pumping water directly into the system using tankers, but fluctuations in pressure meant that some customers in the Wallasey area lost supply temporarily and others on higher ground had intermittent supply.

The water main network and all supplies have now been restored to normal operation. The entire repair process took more than two days with the shut off of a mile and a half section of main either side of the faulty valve. The main had to be emptied into a nearby brook before repairs could start. This was done slowly over ten hours to prevent damage to the brook.

Scott Beard said:

"We recognise the impact this has had on our customers, particularly during some of the hottest weather we've seen this year. We will now be contacting everyone affected with details of compensation. Customers do not need to contact us, we will be in touch with them direct.

"To have two major problems like this at the same time is extremely unusual. We will be carrying out a full investigation to assess what contingencies we could have put in place to help restore water supplies for our customers more quickly."