Fact Check
Image caption, Lorraine Mary Cabell says Anglian Water should have done better By Amber Macey A customer hit by a major water outage says she has placed water containers around her house in case it happens again. Anglian Water is holding community drop-in sessions after about 36,000 people were cut off or had low supply when two pipes burst in the Scunthorpe area on 16 September. Lorraine Mary Cabell, 76, from Kirton in Lindsey, described the firm's response as "haphazard" and said she did not believe it was prepared for an incident on such a "vast scale".
Natasha Tuke, an outreach manager at Anglian Water, said: "There will undoubtedly be areas we could have done better. We want to hear what we didn't get right so we can make sure we get that right in the future." Image caption, During the incident, Anglian Water set up collection points for bottled water Cabell, who has lived in Kirton for 44 years, said the outage made her realise how reliant she was on water from the tap. "I was still going to turn it on even though I knew they'd be no water coming out.
"I came downstairs, put the kettle on and there was no water." Since then, she has placed containers of water around her home, including in the bathroom so she can flush the toilet if it happens again. "I make sure my tank is always full," she said. "It's been a strange situation to be in." Anglian Water said the drop-in sessions were designed to offer residents a chance to speak to staff following the outage, which affected about 1,800 customers in Kirton.
Cabell said: "One of the reasons I came to the session was to ask them how they can be better prepared for any catastrophes that present themselves in the future." Image caption, Pat and Gary Warnock felt Anglian Water performed well during the outage Pat Warnock, from Kirton in Lindsey, said she coped with the outage by using water from a butt outside her home. She felt Anglian Water had "done a good job" and added: "Everybody was criticising because it was two days, but it could have been weeks." Her husband Gary Warnock, said it was the first time he could remember such a major outage, but burst pipes were a "rare occurrence" and not something that caused him "serious concern". Image caption, Customers who lost their water supply are expected to receive £50 in compensation At the time of the outage, Anglian Water said two burst pipes prevented water from reaching a local storage reservoir.
The company delivered bottled water to vulnerable customers and urged residents to use water only for essential purposes. Most of the supply was restored by 18 September and customers who lost supplies are due to get £50 compensation . Tuke said Kirton was "significantly" affected.
She added: "It's really important for us to understand how we impacted Scunthorpe and Kirton in Lindsey, so we can look at how we can make repairs and rebuild the trust in the communities we have affected. "Repairing the burst and getting people [back] on water is one part of it; the other part is making sure communities are supported when we have these instances." Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds , watch the latest episode of Look North . Download the BBC News app from the App Store , external for iPhone and iPad or Google Play , external for Android devices
Source: BBC
