A water main on Birchington Road in Withington, which was repaired by engineers, has burst for a second time, leaving residents with more time to enjoy their own 'bubbling mountain spring'.
Second burst after overnight repair
The Manchester Evening News reported on Sunday how engineers cordoned off the burst water main on Birchington Road, just off Mauldeth Road West, in Withington. United Utilities (UU) said repairs were being planned and would begin 'soon'. Today UU said repairs were completed last night only for the main to burst a second time today.
Onlooker describes ongoing leak
Yesterday one on-looker described the leak, saying it seemed as though Withington, about 30 metres above sea level, appeared to have suddenly acquired its own bubbling mountain spring. Today the same on-looker said not much had changed when they walked by this morning.
He said: "When I went past the barriers on Monday morning, it was still the same as the day before, but the gushing bubbling pool had now been replaced by a more browny looking liquid that I assume was mixing with the mud. It was still spilling out and overflowing onto the road and pavement, making it very muddy as you walked around it. I hope it gets sorted soon, it must be a good amount of water that’s gushing out and it’s quite hot right now."
United Utilities response
A UU spokesman said earlier today that a repair was 'completed last night', adding: "However, unfortunately a further burst has since occurred. Our teams have attended the site and will carry out additional repairs later today. At this stage, there is no impact to customers."
In an update posted on its website at just after 4pm, UU said: "Good news, we’ve now fixed the problem on the water main. We will fill in the hole, remove the barriers and get the road back to normal as quickly as we can over the next few days."
UU says it fixes around 32,000 leaks every year, saving the equivalent of 17 Olympic sized swimming pools per week. About 20% of the water it supplies each day is lost through leakage on its network and another eight per cent from pipes belonging to customers.
Research by Greenpeace UK reportedly found that 2.87bn litres of water a day leaks from pipes in England and Wales.
