Foula water back on

ALL households affected by a recent disruption in water supply in the south of Foula have had their supplies restored.

Three houses ran dry at the start of week, meaning a small group of residents – including elderly people and a family – faced Christmas without water.

Scottish Water confirmed on Boxing Day (26 December) that the last two affected households were reconnected.

Staff discovered that the problem stemmed from two leaks in a water main.

Engineers were flown to the remote island of Foula on Christmas Eve (24 December) after an earlier attempt failed due to poor weather.

The first household was reconnected that day after an overland pipe was laid to bypass the affected section of the water main.

Residents had to use bottled water as they waited for the problem to be fixed.

A spokesman for Scottish Water said: “We did everything we could do restore normal supplies to affected customers on Foula as quickly as possible.

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“The weather conditions were challenging and hampered our efforts, but we were able to restore normal water supplies to the two remaining affected properties today (26 December).

“We apologise for the disruption to normal supplies and the inconvenience caused to our customers, particularly at Christmas time, and thank them for their patience and understanding.”