Water supply still failing for some customers in Belfast 24 hours after NI Water confirms problems across city

Routine maintenance by NI Water caused widespread disruption to water supplies in Belfast on Thursday – but also continued to cause problems on Friday.
By Philip Bradfield
Published 1st Sep 2023, 13:42 BST
Updated 1st Sep 2023, 14:37 BST
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The service provider said that a loss of water supply due to "routine maintenance" was responsible for widespread disruption to businesses in Belfast City Centre on Thursday and Friday.

The problem is known to have closed restaurants such as Avoca on Arthur Street for a time as well as other catering businesses in the vicinity of City Hall.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A spokeswoman for NI Water told the News Letter that the issue with water supply had impacted the Greater Belfast Area on Thursday morning.

NI Water the water supply in greater Belfast was impacted on Thursday during routine maintenance. However by Friday, some customers on Arthur Street had suffered loss of supply. It is not known how widespread the problem remained on Friday but NI Water said they would continue to call out with customers who were having problems throughout the day. Photo: Google Paps.NI Water the water supply in greater Belfast was impacted on Thursday during routine maintenance. However by Friday, some customers on Arthur Street had suffered loss of supply. It is not known how widespread the problem remained on Friday but NI Water said they would continue to call out with customers who were having problems throughout the day. Photo: Google Paps.
NI Water the water supply in greater Belfast was impacted on Thursday during routine maintenance. However by Friday, some customers on Arthur Street had suffered loss of supply. It is not known how widespread the problem remained on Friday but NI Water said they would continue to call out with customers who were having problems throughout the day. Photo: Google Paps.

"Customers should have their water supply restored as the system recharges,” she said. “The expectation is that all customers should be fully back on supply by this afternoon [Thursday]."

Customers who have been affected can check progress at www.niwater.com for updates, she added.

However, by Friday the problems were still not resolved for everyone.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

One example was the Avoca building on Arthur Street near Belfast City Hall, which was still suffering disruption. On Friday morning the building suffered very low water pressure followed by no supply whatsoever.

It was not clear how many other areas were still being impacted. NI Water said it was sending someone out to inspect the building.

A spokeswoman said it is likely to be an air pocket in the system impacting the individual building, which can happen after a disruption.

NI Water would spend Friday responding to individual reports of no water or low pressure such as this and sending out a technician to check the property, she added.

Related topics:NI WaterBelfast