Homes near Ardersier left without water for 12 hours after burst mains at timber plant
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People living near Norbord’s giant timber manufacturing site were left without water for more than 12 hours after a mains burst at the plant.
Scottish Water had to send out fresh water supplies to homes in Westerton and Easterton near Ardersier after the factory at Morayhill bypassed a regulator which was installed to protect the residents from interruptions to their supply.
The company activated the bypass after the water main underneath the factory ruptured overnight on January 22 and they needed to replenish supplies for production purposes. It is believed it is also needed water for tanks which have to be kept full in the event of a fire.
Homes were left without water overnight until the following morning.
One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said their house had no water for about 12 hours from 7pm-7am when bottled water was supplied to them.
Although the recent incident was the first where water supplies have been completely cut off, it has been claimed water pressure to the homes has been affected for years by operations at Norbord.
Scottish Water has confirmed that a valve had been bypassed at “a commercial site” near the villages.
Many households in the area are fed off the same main as the factory. It is thought up to 30 properties may have been affected.
A spokesman for Scottish Water apologised for the disruption.
“After receiving reports from residents, our local team investigated the cause in order to take action to restore supplies as quickly as possible,” he said.
“Early on Saturday morning, we identified that a flow and pressure regulating valve within a commercial site had been bypassed. The valve is in place to protect other customers’ supplies on the same part of the water network and our team therefore returned it to normal operation.
“We are investigating the circumstances further and will pursue any appropriate measures to prevent recurrence.
“We recognise that customers are even more reliant on their water in the current circumstances than usual and are sorry for the disruption experienced in this case.”
Recently, Norbord undertook a major expansion of their factory involving £35 million in investment.
The company is the world’s largest producer of a type of engineered wood for the construction industry. The Morayhill plant is its largest in Europe.
Ardersier community councillor John Ross said: “Norbord and Scottish Water need to address this matter immediately and find another source to supply the factory. Residents need transparency.
“It’s not acceptable that households are being denied access to fresh water at any time.
“Unfortunately we don’t have the full facts about what happened when supplies to these homes were cut off. But it took 12 hours for Scottish Water to arrive with supplies for the affected homes and that’s not acceptable.
“In fairness to Norbord, they are a great employer and when there were complaints about noise coming from the factory they spent millions to address it. I think what needs to happen now is to have separate supplies for the homes and the factory.”
A spokesman for Norbord said: “A water main under the factory ruptured overnight on Friday. There may have been an effect on the water pressure at some local residences, but this was resolved as quickly as possible when the leak was identified and isolated. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
