An undisclosed issue with a water reservoir at Shanklin has led to immediate work being undertaken by Southern Water contractors, which is taking longer than first anticipated and has seen the return of water tankers in the area this week.
The tankers were initially seen at Church Road back in mid-April in order to maintain pressure as Southern Water was experiencing fluctuations in the network. The use of tankers was originally blamed on an increase in demand due to an ‘influx of Easter holidaymakers’.
Confusingly, the utility company later said that it was actually due to nearby storage reservoirs being out of service for planned maintenance – slap bang in the middle of the Easter Holidays. This wasn’t initially disclosed.
Now, it has been revealed that an issue with the reservoir has been identified, leading to important remedial work being undertaken which is lasting longer than initially anticipated. It is said that the works will continue until the end of May.
With water pressure still being an issue in the Shanklin area, whilst the reservoir remains out of action, Southern Water has brought several tankers back in to keep the taps running in The Bay.
A spokesperson for Southern Water has said:
“We apologise to residents for the disruption caused by our use of tankers in Church Road, Shanklin, in recent weeks.
“We are using these tankers to ensure that customers are not affected by water pressure issues, and continue to receive a reliable water supply.
Article continues below this advertisement “The planned maintenance of a nearby storage reservoir will be complete at the end of May, and this will mean the tankers are no longer required.”
Island Echo has asked Southern Water if there has been contamination in the storage reservoir but the specific nature of the issue has not been confirmed.
Temporary traffic lights have been erected on the main Shanklin to Ventnor road, which is causing some delays for motorists.
The influx of tourists caused a problem because the reservoirs were out of action during Easter and stayed out of action due to an issue being identified.
So technically all three excuses are correct, but still misleading.
No explanation for why the chose to do the work over the one busy period at this time of year though or why the works are taking longer than anticipated.
Although with SW works ALWAYS take MUCH longer than anticipated so that’s about the only part of this that is not unclear.
Probably struggling to find enough vans for one per operative.