Tankers to be used by Severn Trent in areas with water shortage
Severn Trent is looking at using tankers to bring water directly to areas who have been without or had intermittent supplies in parts of the West Midlands.
Dozens of residents have taken to social media that their homes have been without water for nearly a week – across areas of Wolverhampton and Shropshire.
Homes in Bushbury, Featherstone and Essington have reportedly experience problems, as well as people living in parts of Much Wenlock in Shropshire.
Willenhall has also reportedly been affected, and low water pressure has been reported in Penn and Tettenhall.
Bottled water was handed handed out to vulnerable people over the weekend, some of which still face staying at home due to coronavirus health concerns. Essington Medical Practice, near Wolverhampton, was forced to close on Monday as it had no water supply.
In a statement on its website, Severn Trent apologised to customers in and around Wolverhampton and Shropshire who "have had a couple of nights of low pressure or no supply" after a "huge spike in demand".
Peak demand
The water company has asked residents to not use sprinklers or pressure washers for the next week, to help the situation. They are also bringing water tankers to bring water directly to those areas affected.
A spokesman for the water company said: "We would like to apologise to any customers in some parts of Wolverhampton and Shropshire who have been seeing some low pressure at certain times of the day.
"The problems are being caused by the incredibly high levels of demand for water we are seeing at the moment – with customers across the Midlands using hundreds of millions of litres more than they usually do.
"The issues tend to be short-lived, usually at times of peak demand, and we have ramped up production of treated water to record levels in response but we would love it if everyone could ditch the sprinklers and the pressure washers to make sure there is enough water for the great hygiene we all need at the moment, and for drinking and flushing toilets.’
A statement on the website added: "We are working flat out to get more treated water into supply – and there are no issues with the raw water we store in our reservoirs – but, despite hitting record levels of production yesterday, customers are pretty much using the water as soon as we can make it.
"That means we are looking at using tankers to bring water directly into your area to help keep your taps on but it would also be great if everyone could also do their bit by using a bit less water, so we are asking everyone to ditch the sprinkler and to ditch the pressure washer, at least for the next week."
