NI Water pumping extra 100m litres of water a day amid leaks

Northern Ireland Water is asking people to ease back on their water usage as its “infrastructure is under pressure”.

The company has said its water treatment plants are working to capacity.

It said it has been pumping an extra 100m litres of water per day into the system since the weekend.

NI Water says the main cause is likely to be burst pipes through the network which have gone unnoticed.

Maynard Cousley, a senior supply manager at NI Water, said the company is “working 24/7” to keep supply going.

“We have contractors, repair squads working round the clock to try and repair bursts as soon as we find them,” he said.

The recent cold weather is likely to have exacerbated the problem.

“We had a fairly severe frost right across Northern Ireland and then over the last weekend a fairly sudden thaw and that brings its own problems,” Mr Cousley said.

“With the heavy frost the ground starts to dry up, harden up.

“That means that pipes under the ground, the joint, start to pull, we can have leaks as well and a lot of them are not seen because they’re under the ground.”

Mr Cousley said if anyone finds a leak they should report it, isolate it and repair it.

“We urgently ask the public to check their empty properties for burst pipes,” he said.

“In particular, we are appealing to landlords to check student housing and other rental properties that are currently empty.”

Large businesses and factories closed for the weekend are also asked to return to their property and thoroughly check inside and outside for leaks.