Woman buys back-up bottles due to water 'trickle'

A number of people living in new builds say they have had "shocking" water pressure for months.

While some at Great Dunmow Grange have avoided issues, many at the new neighbourhood in the Essex town have complained of having a "trickle" or "no water" at all at certain times of day.

Maureen Pollock, 80, said it was so unreliable that she had bought an emergency supply of water bottles for the kettle and her dog.

Affinity Water said the housing development was "extensive" and ongoing construction and the hot weather has caused a strain on demand. Bellway Homes said construction of a new school was causing the problem.

Pollock said it had persisted for three months.

"You get undressed, get in the shower, turn on the tap. Nothing," she explained.

"If you put the washing machine on, of course it doesn't fill up, so it might take three hours to wash instead of 30 minutes.

"You don't know when it's going to come back again. That's the inconvenience of it."

Great Dunmow Grange has approval for 790 homes, featuring several housing developers.

Helen Beard, 72, said the water pressure was "shocking".

She said: "I had my son-in-law around to sort of check, because he's a plumber. He said 'no, it's the pressure', it's just low, it's terrible.

"We should have some sort of compensation for it, or refund."

David Hollingsworth, 73, said: "You turn the taps on, very little comes out. Just a trickle sometimes."

"It's just little things like filling the kettle up just takes longer.

Receptionist Georgia Gemmill, 29, said water had been "dribbling out" of her taps for a couple of months.

She said showering and bathing had been an issue and it was "frustrating for families" during the hot weather.

"It's really annoying considering you still have to pay the same amount," she said.

Rosa says her household is being charged £50 a month for water, despite the issues.

She said running water was needed for the hygiene of her baby and six-year-old.

"At dinner time, when you're trying to fill up pots for pasta and stuff, it's trickling out," she said.

Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "It's a little bit irritating because sometimes you want to have a shower or do your washing up.

"Sometimes the water doesn't even come out at all."

Dunmow Town Council said it has been "informed" about the "severely reduced water pressure".

"This issue is causing significant disruption to daily life for affected households," a spokesperson said.

"Given the scale of ongoing development and the further large-scale schemes currently in the planning pipeline, it is essential Affinity Water urgently investigates and resolves this matter.

"The town council seeks assurances that there will be a timely resolution and that the wider network is resilient enough to meet the demands of our expanding town."

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The Consumer Council for Water suggested that hot weather caused "spikes" in household demand.

A spokesperson said: "If someone has concerns about low water pressure, we recommend recording the times of the incidents over a period - for example two weeks - and reporting these to their water company.

"The company can then visit the property to test the pressure and see if there is a problem.

"In instances where the company is found to be at fault, a customer may be entitled to an automatic payment under the Guaranteed Standards Scheme."

Affinity said it recognised the inconvenience to some residents, but said it had only received a "small number of calls" about it.

It added that there would be "no compensation" to pay based on the information it had.

Residents should be getting water pressure that reaches the upstairs tap of a two-storey building, or a minimum of seven metres (23ft).

A spokesperson for Bellway Homes, one of the developers, said it was aware of reports of poor water pressure which has affected two of its sites in the area - Bellway and Ashberry.

"We understand the root cause is the adjacent construction site for the new school, where water suppression measures – to prevent dust – are causing pressure to drop due to them using an Affinity Water fire hydrant," said a spokesperson.

"We understand this is during the hours of operation of the site and not continuous."

A spokesperson for the Barratt and David Wilson Homes developer said they had had one customer report an issue.

"If any residents are experiencing similar issues with water pressure, we suggest they contact Affinity Water," they said.

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