Kidderminster Green Street water pipe chaos 'unacceptable'

Residents and businesses in the town woke up to significant water supply issues due to a burst water main on Green Street on Saturday morning (December 16).

Thousands of residents in the town were hit with water supply problems on the weekend, with some losing their supply completely. Water from the burst pipe also flooded the road and the car parks at Aldi and Farmfoods.

The local Labour group said that the incident has raised "serious concerns" and they are calling for a technical report from Severn Trent Water to ascertain the root cause.

Flooding on Green Street after pipe bursts (Image: Jack Ashbery)

Councillor Leigh Whitehouse, leader of the Labour Group on Wyre Forest District Council, said: “Whilst I thank Severn Trent for their prompt action, I find it incredibly hard to believe that the water infrastructure in place has proven so fragile and inadequate.

"This is extremely serious, and I will be calling for a full technical report to understand why this has happened and what lessons are being learned.”

Councillor Liam Carroll, councillor for Offmore & Comberton said: “We awoke to the news that a burst water pipe in Green Street was causing significant disruption to water supply across the town, including Offmore & Comberton. Whilst I thank Severn Trent for their quick reaction to the issue, it is important that we learn how to mitigate disruption should this happen again."

Councillor Mary McDonnell, councillor for Broadwaters, added: "Residents in Broadwaters were still affected the next day, Sunday, December 17. The water supply was described as very hit and miss. When it was on, it was only a trickle and not enough pressure upstairs at all."

Severn Trent said they supplied bottled water to local care homes and vulnerable customers on their Priority Services Register.

A drone image of the works being carried out on Green Street (Image: Wyre Forest Drone)

The company is continuing to repair Green Street this week and is expected to reopen by Friday evening.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’d like to thank everyone for their ongoing patience as our teams continue with work on Green Street, following one of our larger water pipes bursting over at the weekend.

"While we fully appreciate Councillor Whitehouse’s concerns, It’s important to know that a pipe this size bursting doesn’t happen often and can happen for a number of reasons.

"We will be looking into what caused it and would be happy to discuss with the councillor in due course, however, our priority is to always make sure our customers have water back, and the network is back to normal.

"We were able to do that by our expert teams moving water around our network and bringing in tankers to pump water directly into the pipes, while also delivering bottled water to our most vulnerable customers to make sure they’re okay.

"We’re now focussing on repairing the road and making it safe again and working with any customers who were affected. Again, we’re sorry for the disruption especially in the lead up to Christmas, so it is our biggest priority to get that done as quickly, and safely as possible.”