Cold weather: Welsh Water hopes to restore water by end of Tuesday

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A view of Aberaeron harbour at low tide

Aberaeron is one of the areas that has been hit by the loss of water

Welsh Water said it hopes to restore water supply to about 4,500 affected homes by the end of Tuesday.

Some homes in Ceredigion were left without little or no water since Saturday after water supply pipes burst following a period of bad weather.

Meanwhile, nine schools across the county have been forced to close.

The water company apologised, saying its response to the "significant issue" has been hampered by heavy rain.

Burst pipes have also caused "significant damage" to the Royal Welsh Museum in Brecon, Powys.

"Due to the incredible efforts of the curator and museum volunteers, most of the priceless regimental artefacts were recovered, but significant damage was caused," a spokesman said.

As a result, the museum has now closed for a winter break, with a review to determine the future opening date in 2023.

A water distribution set up in Llandysul has run out of bottles

Distribution centres have been set up to provide water in some areas.

"We have been without water since yesterday (Sunday) afternoon but areas in Cardigan, up to Llandysul and Horeb (Carmarthenshire) are without water since Saturday," Ms Evans told BBC Radio Cymru's Dros Frecwast programme.

"At least 3,000 houses are without water. Councillors in Cardigan have been distributing water."

Tourism worker Rhian Miles, from Cardigan, said she has "a trickle" coming from her tap, but her parents have been cut off since Saturday.

"I am particularly worried about my parents who are in their 70s and have had no water for drinking or flushing toilets," she said.

The leader of Ceredigion council has rejected criticism that the council did not do enough on Sunday to help vulnerable people who are still without water.

Bryan Davies said staff have been distributing about 35,000 bottles of water donated by Ty Nant mineral water company.

"Obviously it's Welsh Water's job really to make sure everybody has a clean, fresh supply of water. But I think Ceredigion county council has gone above and beyond what it's needed to do."

The following schools are closed on Monday due to the water shortage:

  • Ysgol Ciliau Parc

  • Ysgol Llangwyryfon

  • Ysgol Gynradd Aberteifi

  • Ysgol Dihewyd

  • Ysgol Talgarreg

  • Ysgol Llannon

  • Ysgol Gyfun Aberaeron

  • Ysgol Bro Teifi

  • Canolfan Aeron, Ceredigion Pupil Referral Unit (PRU)

Some people managed to source a water bowser as many were left without supply

All day centres in the mid and south of the county are closed, as well as the County Hall in Aberaeron and the town's only "warm hub", the Ray Centre.

Aberaeron Leisure Centre is closed, but all other council-operated leisure facilities remain open.

The Albion Hotel in Cardigan has also been forced to shut.

"Fortunately, we are normally closed on Sundays but now we want to know what to do the rest of the week and cannot tell people for certain when we will reopen," said owner Steffan Walker.

Seashaw | BBC Weather Watchers

Icy road conditions in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, gave way to heavy rain on Sunday

'Pretty massive problem'

Peter Perry, Chief Executive of Dwr Cymru Welsh Water said freezing temperatures caused a huge number of bursts across its networks.

"If you combine that with an awful lot of bursts on privately owned supply pipes, we've effectively seen that plus a tripling of our normal rate of burst pipes on our own network," he said.

"We've been working around the clock over the last 48 hours to find as many leaks as we can and start the process of fixing them."

He added that the company is "incredibly sorry if we have over promised in its response time" but "the scale of the problem we're dealing with is pretty massive".

He also said about 50,000 bottles of water were distributed in west Wales, water bowsers have been stationed on streets and work is being done to fix hundreds of leaks.

Peter Perry hopes the issue will be resolved by the end of Tuesday

Despite the millions of pounds it will cost to fuel its response, Mr Perry said customers' bills will not be affected.

He said he hopes the problem could be fixed by the end of Tuesday, but added there is "no doubt we will see other issues emerging".

"I can't say for definite it'll be everybody back in supply, but I would really, realistically hope that by late tomorrow, we will have everyone back in supply."

Welsh Water is also dealing with two burst water mains in Carmarthenshire - one is affecting the Efailwen, Clynderwen and Whitland areas.

Another is causing problems in the Ferryside and Kidwelly areas.

Powys council said Tuesday's meeting of cabinet will be online as County Hall will be closed.

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