united utilities

SplanK

Politics has nothing to do with this, and nothing more they can do unless they know how to deal with the inner workings of a UU plant and can wield a spanner correctly! Ye they can throw their weight around a bit, but its not as though UU have been sat on their !!!! for a few weeks. They will have been studying test results and working out a plan of what to do and locate the source of the pollution. These things take time, and the amount of water and length of pipes exacerbates the issue.


Contingency plans - telling people to boil water and supply people with bottle water who really need it (if you are in need, then please call them and discuss).


The case in Bolton where water was cut off for 2 or 3 days, they supplied people with bottled water, refunded people who bought bottled water with receipts, and also started to pump water into the mains via tankers and fire hydrant points. When it came back online, again water was supplied but needed boiling.


I am not really sure what more you think they can do? Water is still coming to the property, just needs a little more treatment before it can be used! Not ideal but not the end of the world for the vast majority of people. If they said "ok, have all the bottled water you can grab your hands on" is again just going to increase your monthly bill as they claw the money back.


As for the extra cost because you have to boil water, as above, I have already explained that people will get it back to cover this extra cost once the situation is resolved. If you personally find yourself in a position for what ever reason (be it because of cost, health.....), then speak to UU and they will deal with you on a case by case basis. There is phone number you can use, or if you look on their website, they have people stationed at a number of places around Lancashire ready to help!


Equipment... why have kit sat on the shelf for years for an event that may never happen? The UV kit being bought in is very VERY expensive to run, and in normal operation is not needed. This would only serve to increase costs again!


PS - before anybody accuses me.... I do not work for UU either!

Cardew

tammy66 wrote: »

As u say uu is a business and I see their profits going up every year along with the amount I pay
I do not think it is unreasonable for a company which has been supplying water for years not to have had contingency plans for events such as this along with the equipment required instead of sitting back and raking in the profits and hoping nothing goes wrong

You really need to understand the way water companies are financed under The Water Act.


The revenue they are allowed to raise, and hence profit, is strictly governed by the Regulator(ofwat) and is laid down in a plan.


If the Regulator agreed with you that it was prudent to have contingency plans and equipment to cope with this situation, and any other potential situation you can envisage, there wouldn't be a problem. The companies would set up the measures you and ofwat consider necessary and the company would be allowed to raise the necessary revenue to fund those measures.


Only problem is who do you think will pay for the additional measures to fund those measures?


Please don't think I am defending the privatisation of the water companies as they are in a win/win situation. However any funding for measures you propose will be paid for by the customer in increased charges.

System

I had a sewer go into reverse right outside my front door. UU fixed it and just handed me a form to fill in for compensation, I didn't even ask for it.

From my experience I suspect they'll sort you out, but it might take some time given the number affected. I'm a good bit outside the infected zone

enfield_freddy

umm , water boiling lifted for 80,000 people wrongly stated by the LEP , check your postcode here http://www.unitedutilities.com/fylde-boiled-water-postcode.aspx

lonestar1

http://www.unitedutilities.com/lancashire-boiled-water.aspx

That link tells you which postcodes have been lifted

enfield_freddy

ok , email just received


[FONT=Tahoma, Arial, verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]You do not need to boil your water[/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma, Arial, verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, Arial, verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif] We are pleased to tell you that the water supply in your area is normal and you no longer need to boil your water before using it for drinking, food preparation or brushing teeth.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, Arial, verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif] We fully appreciate the disruption you have experienced to your normal routine and for this we are extremely sorry. We will contact you with details of compensation. You will not need to contact us as this will happen automatically and this will be done as soon as
possible.
Thank you for bearing with us whilst we worked to get your water supply back to normal.
Please visit our website frequently asked questions.
If you have any other queries please contact us on 0800 912 7241. We’ll be happy to help.
Alternatively you can visit unitedutilities.com/lancashire-boiled-water
Yours faithfully,

Chandra Allen
Head of Customer Services
[/FONT]



this by my reckoning (from date of there original txt) is 25 days of boiling water

lonestar1

congratulations looks like Im boiling for another week at least

enfield_freddy

more updates mentioned in LEP for today , check later

lonestar1

nope still boiling, still looks like compo for those lifted is 50 or 55 quid depending when they lifted the notice

enfield_freddy

yup , all clear now , compensation is stated as to be upto £60 , but there info says differently http://www.unitedutilities.com/lancashire-compensation.aspx