Thousands of people were left without a home water supply during the crisis The board of Northern Ireland Water is meeting on Tuesday, amid increasing speculation about the future of its chief executive, Laurence MacKenzie.
The directors of the government-owned company are meeting to examine lessons learned from the water supply crisis.
Tens of thousands of households were affected over the Christmas holidays.
Northern Ireland Water has confirmed that just 158 properties are still without water, although it is still not clear when they will be reconnected.
Forty-seven are in the west of Northern Ireland and 111 in the east. Many are thought to be on higher ground.
As chief executive of the company, with a remuneration package of about £250,000, Laurence MacKenzie has been the focus of media attention during the crisis.
Asked if Mr Mackenzie had offered to resign in the past few days, a company spokesman would only say the chief executive’s focus is to continue to deal with the incidents around water shortages.
He added that Mr McKenzie had made clear that issues in relation to his future would be considered when the incident was closed and that point had not been reached.
Mr Mackenzie, along with other senior managers, is due to appear before Stormont’s regional development committee on Thursday.
The committee wants to know who is going to take responsibility for the crisis that left 40,000 households without water. The utility regulator is due also to meet with senior managers this week.
Helicopter
NI Water has drafted in a police helicopter and postal workers to identify the remaining burst pipes.
The police helicopter is fitted with thermal imaging technology to help check trunk mains in remote areas, while postmen and women have agreed to report any leaks they find on their rounds.
Incidents were reported at hundreds of NI schools over the Christmas period Schools
Eleven schools due to reopen after Christmas were closed on Tuesday due to damage caused by flooding.
It had been feared the number would have been higher after hundreds reported incidents over the holidays.
However, round-the-clock work to repair burst pipes at schools has been largely successful.
Northern Ireland Education Minister Caitriona Ruane said maintenance staff “played a huge role in keeping systems going” in schools.
Nigel Frith, the principal of Drumragh College in Omagh, said it was frustrating that the school had had to close on Tuesday.
“We hoped we would be ready, but as we looked at the situation yesterday we saw that we just couldn’t be sure enough that we had found all the leaks yet,” he said.
The school has only been in the building for two years and had a frost protection system in place, but had still suffered serious damage due to the weather.
“A number of our maintenance officers worked right over the Christmas period – missed their Christmas dinners – to ensure that schools would reopen”
Tony Murphy Southern Education and Library Board
“The flooding is fairly serious. There are nine different bursts within the kitchen alone and in the technology block unfortunately it’s come down over a number of computers,” Mr Frith said.
The Southern Education and Library Board managed to get all the schools under its control ready to open – 85 of which were damaged over the Christmas break.
The chief executive of the board, Tony Murphy, said an emergency plan was in place for the impact of the severe weather.
“A help desk was available 24/7 right throughout the period and I must compliment the schools, the principals, the caretakers and the local community,” he said.
“Our first callout was at 6.20am on Christmas eve and a number of our maintenance officers worked right over the Christmas period – missed their Christmas dinners – to ensure that schools would reopen.”
Schools with problems have been asked to contact the department between 0900 GMT and midday on 02891 279480, 02891 279481 and 02891 279473.
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