Engineers worked through Wednesday night to repair a burst main that left about 9,500 homes in two areas of Dundee without water.
A huge hole appeared on Longhaugh Road, near the junction with Pitkerro Road, after the main burst – flooding the area near the Iceland supermarket.
Scottish Water tankered water into the network, which brought the number of homes affected down to about 5,000.
The “complex” repair was finally completed just after 6am on Thursday but many were left without water for several hours after that.
Areas affected included Whitfield, Fintry, Maryfield and parts of Broughty Ferry.
One woman who lives on Shamrock Street, near Morgan Academy, told The Courier she had been without water for more than 12 hours.
Residents unable to wash as supplies cut off
She said: “We have had to contact Scottish Water ourselves to find out what is going on. No one has been to see or contact us or any of the other affected residents.
“We can’t flush our toilet, we’re frightened to use it. We can’t put our heating on as it is a water based unit so have been sitting here freezing.
“We haven’t been able to shower and are running out of dishes because we can’t wash them all.
“But obviously we are just one of probably hundreds going through this.”
Bottle collection point set up at Odeon cinema
In an update just after 8pm on Thursday, Scottish Water confirmed normal supplies had been restored to residents affected.
A spokesperson said: “We would like to apologise to customers affected by this incident, particularly to those for whom the return of their water supply has taken longer than we anticipated due to the size of the network.
“This was a complex piece of work overnight and through the early part of Thursday.
“If your water is discoloured following the restoration of supply, please run the cold tap in the kitchen slowly until the water runs clear.
“The work on the large diameter pipe required a significant road excavation and local traffic management will remain in place on Pitkerro Road.
“Our team has worked hard throughout the night to try and restore supplies as quickly as possible.”
It has not been confirmed how long the road will remain closed for.
A bottled water collection point was kept in place at the Odeon Luxe cinema on Douglas Road until 7pm on Thursday.
Ally Reid was riding her motorbike through the area when the pipe burst.
The 56-year-old from Fintry says she almost got “swept away”.
Motorcyclist almost ‘swept away’ by burst pipe
She said: “It was horrific. I was just coming back from Asda after doing some shopping and the water came out of nowhere.
“A car was attempting to turn back but the water was at least two or three feet high.
“I managed to get on the embankment but I was struggling to keep my balance.
“There was a concern I could have been swept away back down. If I didn’t have the brake on the bike, I was going back down the hill due to the force of the water.
“The fire service were brilliant when they arrived. It took about 20 minutes to get to safety as they pushed my bike out of there as well.”
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