Frozen pipe - No water

hendersonb

Hi, not sure if this is in the right section but here goes.

On New Years Eve out water stopped running, it turns out its the mains pvc pipe underground. Now I am a housing association tenant, therefore can't do much myself.

However they had there contractors out who decided best course of action is to wait for it to thaw. Going by the forecast this could be another two weeks, then should it be burst possibly longer.

The housing association have said they will refund me for cheap bottles of water purchased. Which is not much 13p per bottle from Asda, i'll probably take the hit for this as claiming £5 or so for water will be more hassle than its worth.

However it means I still have no shower/hot water for a bath, a running toilet, water for washing machine. If this goes on for another 2 weeks where do I stand? Can I demand a rent discount for a property without basic facilities? Or can I even force them to get something done before the next 2 weeks?

We are currently having to do a 40 min/ 30 mile round trip every day to get a shower, laundry done at the wifes parents house which is a nightmare as it really ruins the evenings etc

What can I do?

totalsolutions

Nothing much. Shower next door, would that not be possible... A hose from neighbour ....

Apricot

Surely the council have a duty of care to provide you with running water? I would ring them constantly until they send someone out to sort it out, whatever that may be or ask them to put you into temporary accommodation as it's not really acceptable not to be able to flush a toilet or wash your face.
Make a note of all the phonecalls you make & the response that you get. I would maybe try to get in touch with a local councillor.

keystone

This is nonsense. There is an environmental health issue here if nothing else. Not sure I believe its the mains anyway - the weather would have to be seriously extreme for a very long time indeed for an underground pipe to freeze. We hardly have permafrost in this country even if the air temperature has been -8 for a couple of days.

You need to make a lot more noise!

Cheers

hendersonb

Thanks for the replies - will give them another call today see if we can get any further with it.