Birkhill residents to rescue after water main bursts
Worried householders had to hurriedly pile up material in front of an electricity sub-station after a burst main sent water flooding towards it.
Ad hoc defences protect a sub-station.
- By Grant Smith
- Published in the Courier : 25.10.10
- Published online : 25.10.10 @ 11.59am
The fault happened in Highfield Place in Birkhill. Water began pouring out of a gap in the pavement on the north side of the street and flowed across to the lower south side, quickly becoming several inches deep.
Some quick-thinking residents put down planks and sand in front of the sub-station to minimise the chance of it being flooded. Fortunately, the water did not reach it.
No homes were affected, although water did get into at least one garden. A stream also flowed out of Highfield Place into Post Box Road and down towards the main road through the village.
A Scottish Water engineer arrived to switch off a nearby valve to stem the flow and an electricity engineering crew was also summoned to check over the sub-station.
Although villagers were relieved that the burst was dealt with before any damage could be done to their homes, they were frustrated by the recurrence of a problem they had hoped was fixed.
Resident Ken Nicoll, outside whose home the burst happened, said it had only been a month since a previous burst, just a few feet away. It is understood from residents that there have now been at least four similar flooding incidents in the street in the last year or so.
Mr Nicoll said, "The water was flying out. We had repairs done a month ago and lo and behold, the fault's right next to it. I know these things can go awry, but it's the time it takes to repair it."
Scottish Water said it was working to repair the fault.
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