Some Macclesfield streets faced the hottest days of the year with no water
By Jane Barker
20th Jul 2022 | Local News
Once again, the SK11 area of Macclesfield is facing huge disruptions to their water supply.
Having already lived through a major issue a few months back, when a local reservoir with a blocked outlet pipe, they are once again facing the hottest days with very little or no water at all.
The lack of water has caused businesses to close their doors and residents scratching their heads in frustration, and without quality water for the recent heatwave.
Streets affected include Surrey Road, Rising Sun Road, and Hillcrest Road.
According to residents, an engineer for United Utilities visited the area after a complaint. They then advised residents to ring the call centre every time they experience a problem, because using the online reporting system only treats the issue as an individual household problem and not an area.
Despite this, United Utilities website is not showing any issues or incidents on their website for the area, even though there clearly is.
Residents have been informed that United Utilities are aware of a major engineering issue with the main pressure regulator valve, a leak on School Lane and a desperate need to improve the main supply pipes to the area. However, this has not been confirmed or denied at this stage by United Utilities.
In the current climate of the economic crisis, households are being forced to buy water so they can meet their basic human needs. All of this is adding additional costs to already over stretched finances.
One resident said "we are paying for a service United Utilities are unable to provide, which in my opinion feels like fraud. They are not prepared to use tankers or give us bottled water. Even those on the vulnerable list are getting nothing but poor excuses and different stories".
Residents are using community Facebook groups to compare experiences of this ongoing situation; it is quite clear that feelings are running high.
They discuss a lack of support, communication, call-backs, and updates. In addition to the inconsistency of the information being passed.
They have been repeatedly told by United Utilities they are not sending tankers or giving bottled water out. On the hottest day on record. Many households where completely without water all day, with no help offered at all from the water company.
Many residents have escalated the issue to a complaint, in which United Utilities must follow a strict procedure in keeping the complaints updated on the progress of the complaint.
Residents say they have been having poor supply for years, but United Utilities have just fobbed them off with one excuse after another, including accusing each household of having its own issue, or that they are putting too much demand on the system but regardless of the time of year or season, the poor pressure issues persisted.
Residents are now calling on the local Parish Council of Gawsworth and MP David Rutley to help them in their plight to get United Utilities to give them straight consistent answers to this outrageous situation.
A United Utilities spokesperson said: "We are aware that some customers in the Gawsworth area are experiencing problems with their water pressure, and we apologise for that.
"This is due in part to essential maintenance being carried out on the network.
"The high temperatures this week have also led to a surge in demand which has put additional stress on supplies.
"So that we can keeps taps flowing we are arranging to supply water to from a different area and will also be carrying out work next month to further improve the pressure.
"We are contacting customers via text message to keep them informed and would like to thank them for their patience."
See Also: Macclesfield water expert reveals how we can keep cool in the heat
Got an event going on in Macclesfield? Advertise it for FREE on our What's On page.
Macclesfield: Have you signed up for our FREE Friday weekly newsletter? It contains each week's top five Macclesfield news stories, and one EXCLUSIVE article?
1400 of you have signed up already. Simly enter your email address on this link.
Free from pop-up ads, or unwanted surveys, Macclesfield Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our town.
New macclesfield Jobs Section Launched!!
Vacancies updated hourly!!
Click here: macclesfield jobs
Share:
