Thousands of bottles of water were handed out in Ripon this afternoon after a burst water main left around 4,000 homes without water all day.
Yorkshire Water set up an emergency bottled water station at Ripon fire station for thirsty residents, which had a steady stream of people in cars coming to pick up bottles of H2O, helped by on shift firefighters.
Mike and Kay had only just returned to Thornborough, north of Ripon, this afternoon after a holiday in Krakow, Poland. Mike said:
“We’re waiting for a decent cup of tea!”
Colin from Copt Hewick was there to collect water for his pets.
“We’ve got animals, four dogs, so you’ve got to think of them first.”
Ripon firefighters help out.
Ant, from Stockton-on-Tees, holidays at a static caravan at Riverside Meadows holiday park. He said:
“It was a shock to wake up this morning and not be able to flush the toilet! I’m taking plenty of bottles for my neighbours too.”
Whilst spirits were generally high, one woman gave a Yorkshire Water employee a hard time over what she said was poor communication. The company has been slow to tell the public when normal water supply will resume.
She said its website had barely been updated all day so had tried to find updates on Twitter.
Her opinion was shared by Bishop of Ripon, Helen-Ann Hartley, who described communication from the water company as “unacceptable”.
https://twitter.com/HartleyHAM/status/1560284278331678720?s=20&t=LM9oGeOd6ls30OEDNSuu6A
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The burst water main on North Street has caused more disruption than a typical water leak, with many homes now without water for 12 hours.
Supermarkets in Ripon ran out of bottled water earlier today.
A Yorkshire Water employee told the Stray Ferret that service was likely to return at around 7pm but similar promises earlier today did not materialise.
The stock of water was quickly depleted.
One woman who arrived at the emergency bottled water station said to make sure there was room in the boot for a wine delivery that she was going to collect afterwards. “I can’t turn water into wine!” joked the Yorkshire Water employee, as he carried some bottles into her car.
More bottles of water will be available from Ripon Racecourse until 9pm.