Water restored for some Devon properties after burst main

Water supplies have been successfully restored for some properties across west Devon following a burst main, South West Water (SWW) has said.

The water company said it plans to connect remaining customers on Wednesday as the network fully recharges.

Thousands of properties in Plymouth, Bere Alston, Yelverton, and Tavistock lost water supply following a burst water main on Sunday.

On Tuesday, SWW said the 13,000 properties who experienced a loss of water supply would receive £200 compensation.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for SWW said: “We are pleased to say that we are successfully bringing customers back into supply.

“We plan to connect remaining customers within the next few hours as the network fully recharges so that customers have normal supply pressures.”

The company said the four bottled water stations it had set up would remain open and the team would continue to make deliveries to its priority service customers.

The stations are located at The George Park and Ride, Bere Alston Bowling Club, Knightstone Tearooms in Yelverton and Morrisons in Tavistock.

SWW said: “As water comes back into service, it is normal to expect discolouration, which should clear after running your cold kitchen tap.

“It is also common for air to become trapped in the supply, or within the internal plumbing.”

Customers who are still experiencing no water have been advised by the water company to follow “simple steps” to check for airlocks.

It said to turn on the internal stop-tap on and off three times to release any air whilst the cold kitchen tap is running, and to check the external stop-tap was open, if safe to do so.

The water company said it would credit affected domestic customers £200, while business customers would receive £400.

It said businesses would also be able to apply for compensation for additional loss of service.