BORDON residents were left without water for 12 hours following a split in a major water main on Saturday. The 15 inch pipe, which runs underneath Farnham Road in Sleaford, burst outside the Country Market just before 8am. The leak left an estimated 3,000 homes in the Whitehill and Bordon area without water. Although some properties would have suffered from reduced water pressure, most were left sithout a supply. It was not just water supplies that were affected by the burst, as traffic in the area suffered after workmen installed temporary traffic lights in order to excavate the road and investigate the problem. When the supply was finally restored, some homes experienced discolouration of their water for a short period, but according to South East Water the discolouration did not pose any health risk. A spokesman for South East Water, who are responsible for the pipe, told The Herald: "We had quite a major problem to our supplies on Saturday. "We received the first calls from customers at just before eight AM and the inspector was onsite at five past. "Unfortunately, the repairs took longer than we had anticipated, due to complications with the work. "Our priority was to get an inspector on site, along with the contractors, to repair the damage and restore the supply." The spokesman added: "We did have some issues with white water and sediment. "Following the fracture in the pipe, air got into the supply and made the water appear cloudy and white. "There were also some reports of discoloured water, which occurs when the water is mixed with the natural deposits in the pipe. "Iron and manganese, which are not harmful to health, often settle in the pipe, and these sediments are disturbed by burst mains." The cause of the rupture in the pipe is still unknown and South East Water believe a numbr of issues could be behind the burst. "It is difficult to tell what caused the pipe to burst, and we could never say for sure. "It could have been something as simple as a movement in the ground. "It could have been caused by a change in temperature or weather conditions, or even heavy traffic movement. "We can only apologise for the disruption caused by the burst to water supply."
