The BBC’s Alexandra Mackenzie visited one family finding it very difficult to live without water
NI Water have warned it could be next week before all homes and businesses in Northern Ireland are reconnected.
Ministers in NI are to hold an emergency meeting to discuss how to help the 32,000 people still affected as it emerged that two hospitals have experienced supply problems.
South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon has been relying on the NI Fire Service and bottled water.
Lagan Valley Hospital in Lisburn was without water for a number of hours.
Eighty villages and towns have been affected as pipes burst in the thaw.
Around 18,000 customers are still affected in the Belfast area, 5,000 in the eastern part of Northern Ireland and 8,000-9,000 in the western area.
Trevor Haslett, director of engineering at NI Water, said the situation in urban areas was improving and should be better by Friday afternoon.
However, he added: “It could be early next week before everybody is on supply.”
Mr Haslett said over a period of 12 hours the company suffered more burst service pipes than he could remember for 35 years.
The company has invested £150m in water mains over the past three years, replacing 1% of the system but in other parts of the UK almost double the amount of infrastructure had been replaced, he said.
“If NIW received more money for water mains we could increase the rate of renewal,” Mr Haslett said.
The company has admitted that substantially more people have been affected over the period of the shortages.
It said much of the extra 250m litres it has released into the system has already leaked out – some of its through its own own distribution system, but most because of damaged pipes on private property.
The Stormont Executive will discuss what further measures can be taken at a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
One man queuing for water in east Belfast said his water service has been interrupted since just after Christmas.
“It is just terrible, having to queue for water. It just should not happen,” he told the Associated Press.
NI Water, a state-owned company, which is the sole provider of water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland, said an unprecedented number of leaks caused by the thaw following the long period of freezing weather had been putting “big pressure” on its systems.
The thaw followed the worst snow in Northern Ireland in 25 years and record cold temperatures.
People fill up containers with water in Belfast As temperatures rose, burst pipes drained reservoirs, forcing NI Water to turn off the tap to the 80 locations.
Some people have been without water for 12 days.
BBC Northern Ireland’s political editor Mark Devenport said there was recognition that NI Water’s engineers were struggling to deal with an unprecedented number of call-outs, but there was also general condemnation of the company’s inability to communicate better with its increasingly angry consumers.
The Stormont Executive has accepted help from Scotland and sent civil service staff to help out at NI Water’s call centre.
Minister for Employment and Learning Danny Kennedy said: “I think the public are looking for answers and there must be an immediate response from not only the Executive but also NI Water itself.”
The interim chairman of NI Water, Padraic White, admitted its response had been unsatisfactory.
Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said that while the Westminster government had a lot of pressures on its budget, it was also ready to help.
He said Northern Ireland’s infrastructure had suffered over the years and that changes were now needed.
NI Water is now operating water “black outs” where householders’ supplies are interrupted for a period of six to eight hours, then turned back on again.
Planned times for when supplies will be switched off, for a period of time, and then restored are indicated on the major incident page on its website.
Local councils are working to supply water and offer free showers to people without a mains supply and information is being provided on the NI Water website.
In a statement, the Utility regulator said the priority for the rest of this week was to let NI Water manage and restore supplies as a matter of urgency.
“We have asked for a meeting with NI Water early next week to discuss the company’s performance,” a spokesman said.
More information is available from the NI Water website, or telephone hot line: 08457 440088, on Ceefax 169 and BBC News Online.
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