WATER supply issues in Calstock which left some homes without water for 89 hours amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have been slammed as ‘absolutely appalling’ in the 21st Century.

A leak at the reservoir at Hingston Down caused a myriad of problems on the supply network with households from Gunnislake to Harrowbarrow, and Drakewalls to Calstock finding their taps had run dry last Thursday evening.. and the next day... and the one after that.

As South West Water teams worked through the days and nights to fix issues, the repair was ‘complex’ and residents had to ship in water supplies and go without showers for several days.

The community has been praised for its herculean efforts in getting water to the vulnerable. Many had to travel miles as bottled water stocks were run down from Callington to Tavistock.

Cornwall councillor Dorothy Kirk said once again the people of Calstock had risen to the challenge and helped neighbours but she felt this could have been avoided if the supply network was brought up to a standard that could cope with the demand.

She said 250 new homes in the parish and no work on the infrastructure had contributed to the problems.

‘The system broke down basically,’ she said. ‘There was a leak at the reservoir under Hingston Down and then an airlock that caused the withdrawal and renewal of water which explains why so many people had intermittant supply.

‘When South West Water started to flush the water through, they found all these weaknesses in the network. There were reports of pipes bursting and problems everywhere. This is what happens when you neglect things for long enough.

‘It is absolutely appallling — we do not expect this in the 21st Century and we have a pandemic going on where people need to wash their hands and keep everything clean.

‘The Government talks about levelling up — well how about a decent water supply for the Calstock parish?’

Gunnislake resident Hana Ridley went to Morrisons in Tavistock and filled the boot of her car with bottles of water to take back to elderly neighbours.

A temporary water station was set up by SWW at the Tamar Valley Donkey Park on Saturday and a lorry situated in Gunnislake Car Park where people could get supplies.

Hana said that because of water pressure problems, people’s boilers and heating were affected.

‘The SWW workers were brilliant, they worked really hard, through the day with nothing to eat to get the job done.

‘There were a lot of localised problems and they did what they could.

‘Most of the people I visited were grateful for a cup of tea to drink and warm their hands on and they were worried about not being able to take their medication.’

Carla Pote from Dimson, who daughter tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday evening, said she would never take water for granted again having had no supply for 89 hours.

‘I still haven’t got water,’ she said on Monday.

‘We have been trying to keep everything clean

‘With my husband at work I was relying on my friends, neighbours and my sister. One of my neighbours left six bottles of water on my doorstep, I was so grateful. A lady from Delaware had seen a post I put on Facebook and and lent me an electric heater for the day. People were really fantastic. Everybody helped each other and social media was great as we could get information out.

‘We were able to go to my sister’s for a shower and we would boil water to wash in the sink — I suppose we could get water and it was more a an inconvenience really but we are not used to it.’

South West Water told the Times on Monday that around 1,800 properties were affected.

A spokesperson said: ‘Our teams have been working hard over the weekend to restore water to residents in Gunnislake and Calstock and supplies have now been restored to customers.

‘We have laid a new water main to add resilience to the network along with temporary pumps at the supplying reservoir to improve pressure and flows in the system.

‘We are aware that a small number of customers may still be experiencing low pressure or isolated issues, and we are continuing to investigate these on a case by case basis and our teams are in the area offering ongoing support.

‘We would like to thank customers for their continued patience and support shown for our teams while we have worked to restore supplies for all customers.’

They added that customers would be automatically compensated in accordance with the Guaranteed Standards of Service for the interruption to their supply.