Concerns of Bottled Water Shortage in Conwy as Burst Pipe at Treatment Plant Disrupts Supply to 40,000 Homes

Residents are concerned that local stores might soon be running out of bottled water following a burst water pipe that has led to the closure of five schools and the potential cut-off of water supplies to around 40,000 households.

Yesterday, a burst water main at Bryn Cowlyd Water Treatment Works left 8,000 homes without water across Conwy in north Wales. 

The water firm confirmed that only Conwy county had been impacted, after previously stating homes in some Denbighshire towns had also lost water 

Welsh Water confirmed an estimated 8,000 homes were without supplies on Wednesday with another 33,000 at risk as they attempt to fix the issue. 

Due to the incident, a number of establishments have had to cease operations, including five schools, two libraries in Llanrwst and Conwy, and the Bordreinallt surgery.

Reports suggest that the water utility company will not be able to provide information on locations where water bottles can be collected until tomorrow, more than 24 hours since the problem initially arose.

Conwy Valley local, Martin Edwards, 60, told MailOnline: ‘Bottled water could run out at the supermarkets.

‘People won’t just buy a few bottles they will buy more than what they need because they won’t be sure if the water will be on tomorrow morning.

Have you been left without water? E-mail: [email protected] 

Around 40,000 could be left without water after a water pipe burst at a treatment plant in north Wales

The water firm have said it is ‘dangerous and difficult’ to make the repair as it is located two meters beneath the river bed in the Conwy Valley

‘The next thing you know, Aldi and Lidl will run out of water and there’s not a lot of other places to buy water in Llandudno.’

The Welshman said they had not received any correspondence from the water firm about bottled water collection – only two warning texts that the supply was impacted. 

‘There is supposed to be a water bottle centre in Eiris Park in Colwyn Bay but thats quite strange place to have it considering there is nothing for the Conwy Valley,’ he added: ‘But that’s around 20 miles away.’

‘For a couple hours its not that bad, but as it goes on you can imagine people can’t flush their toilets you have public things life cafe, restaurants, schools’

He added: ‘By tonight use some of the bottled water to flush the loo, but for many people who don’t have that its going to get grim. 

‘We have hotels – Llandudno is the biggest resort in wales – this is going to have a major knock on effect in my view. The longer it goes on the worse it is going to get.’

Mr Edwards claimed the incident was not surprising as they had ‘quite a few outages before’ 

Crews from the water firm are at the site, with tankers mobilised in a bid to keep as many people on supply as possible, while water supplies are not expected to be restored until later this evening. 

The company previously explained the repairs would be ‘difficult and dangerous’ due to the burst pipe being situated two-and-a-half meters beneath the river bed. 

Welsh Water staff would have to create a dam-like structure in the Conwy Valley in an attempt to gain access to the damaged water pipe, the company said.

 Furious residents have since slammed the water firm on X, branding their service ‘absolutely appalling’.

‘More than 4 times in the last month without any water for more than 24 hours, including Christmas Day! With a young family this is NOT acceptable,’ the local said. 

Yesterday, a burst water main at Bryn Cowlyd Water Treatment Works (pictured) left 8,000 homes without water across Conwy and Denbighshire

The water firm is understood to have contacted customers directly via SMS and is delivering water bottles to those who are vulnerable

‘No offer of support, to provide bottled water, or offer of compensation.’

A second bemoaned the company wasn’t answering their phones, adding: ‘Some of us have no water and have been waiting in since 8am this morning for you to turn up!! Useless.’ 

Currently the areas of Trofarth, Pentrefelin, Rowen, Rhyd y foel, Tal y Bont Tal y Cafn, Tyn Groes, Pandy Tudur, parts of Llanrwst, Maenan, Llangernyw, have been impacted.

Galhaiarn, Llanfair, Llanddoged, Llanbedir y Cennin, Henryd, Gwytherin, Groesffordd, Eglwys Bach, Conwy and Dolgarrog are also understood be affected.

Customers of the water firm are understood to have been contacted via text message about the issue.  Bottled water is also being delivered to the vulnerable in the area. 

In an updated statement, a Welsh Water spokesperson said: ‘The repair to the burst water main at our Bryn Cowlyd Water Treatment Works, Dolgarrog is taking longer than was planned.

‘The burst water main is two and half metres beneath the riverbed and the volume of water in the river is making the repair exceptionally difficult.

‘We have created a coffer dam to redirect the river and a trench box around the damaged pipe so that we can excavate and access the damaged water main whilst protecting our workforce and the environment.

‘Once the burst water main has been repaired it could take up to 48 hours before water supplies are fully restored as the network refills – but some customers will regain before then as water fills the network.

‘The Bryn Cowlyd Water Treatment Works services one of the largest networks in Wales, supplying the Conwy Valley all the way to Llandudno and operates under very high pressure.

‘The network includes service reservoirs that store water and mains that deliver the water to the customers.

‘It will take time for the system to re-fill to a sufficient level to restore the supply to customers.

Many have been left furious slamming the water company, quipping that their service was ‘not acceptable’

‘This process can’t be rushed as it could cause problems with water pressure, discolouration of water or further bursts.

‘We are prioritising delivering bottled water to vulnerable customers on our Priority Services Register. This involves supporting 5,000 vulnerable customers in the affected areas.

‘We intend to have bottled water stations in place tomorrow, but as there is currently a shortage in the bulk supplies of bottled water across the UK and we are sourcing bottled water from as far as Scotland. We’re using current supplies to prioritise our vulnerable customers.

‘Compensation arrangements will be put in place to those customers who have lost their supplies together with additional arrangements for business customers.

‘We are doing all we can to restore supplies as soon as possible and we apologise for the inconvenience we have caused.’