Northern Ireland Water has experienced major problems this week with water supply as a result of the freezing temperatures.A major incident team has been set up in NI Water’s head office to co-ordinate response teams across the province and work is ongoing to find and repair burst watermains.

Water supply to a number of areas across Northern Ireland has been affected by sub-zero temperatures which caused a significant number of bursts within customers’ homes and also affected parts of the watermain network.

Areas experiencing difficulties with their supply included Omagh, Ballymoney, Claudy, Dungannon, Dungiven and Limavady. Due to the significant number of bursts within private properties, the NI Water supply network experienced unprecedented demand as water continued to run within these premises.

NI Water has received nearly 14,000 calls since Sunday and staff have repaired more than 51 burst watermains. The company has now reported significant progress in its efforts to restore water supplies to those customers affected by ongoing freezing weather conditions.

Bottled water had to be provided to people whose water was cut off for 24 hours or more. Water levels in reservoirs fell due to a spate of burst pipes, leaving hundreds of people without supplies earlier in the week.

NI Water said the disruption in supply was due to the high level of demand for water currently being placed on the network, with some of the service reservoirs in the affected areas at low level due to water leaking out through the system from bursts on private supply pipes such as cattle drinking troughs, and vacant properties such as holiday homes, sports grounds and community halls.

Customers and keyholders were urged to check their properties for leaks. Customers have also been asked not to  run taps unnecessarily in an attempt to prevent leaks which can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water per day per customer.