A Cardiff woman has been without clean running water for ten weeks after the supply in her council flat turned a green, yellow-ish colour. Amanda Stevens, 56, who lives in Rumney, has been forced to rely on bottled water and visits to relatives' homes for basic tasks such as laundry and showering.
Stevens, who moved into the property in May, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the situation was an “absolute nightmare” which was “really driving me nuts”. She said: “Every day I’m down there, washing my clothes or having a shower. I’m filling up bottles of water for my cooking and my pets and stuff like that.”
Cost and inconvenience of bottled water
Stevens said buying large bottles of water weekly was “costing her a fortune”. She lives at the top of a hill and described carrying multiple “heavy” bottles up the slope as “a nightmare, literally”. Cardiff Council provided her with 18 bottles when the discolouration first appeared.
Beyond the inconvenience, she is worried about the potential impact of the water on herself, her pets and her grandchildren. She said her granddaughter often puts her hands in the tap water and then into her mouth. Stevens first noticed the discolouration when running a bath for her granddaughter.
Council response and timeline
Council officers have visited the home to inspect the water, but Stevens said the local authority was “dragging their heels” over fixing the problem. She has been told works should be completed by December 9, a date she does not think she can cope with.
Welsh Water confirmed to the LDRS that a site inspection had taken place and there were no issues with the water supply. A Cardiff Council spokesperson said a water sample had been taken and assessed, with results indicating the water was of “adequate” quality.
The spokesperson said: “The council has taken a number of steps to identify and resolve the issue. This has included renewing the internal pipework connecting the property to the water main and new stop taps. Following further investigations today (November 10), the issue appears to be linked to the supply pipe to the bath. A private contractor will be commissioned to replace this pipe, which we expect will resolve the issue with the discoloured water. Bottled water has been provided to the tenant, and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience this has caused while these investigations have been carried out.”
