Water chief fights off quit calls

Northern Ireland’s under-fire water authorities have fought off resignation calls over the crisis in water supplies.

Senior figures from Northern Ireland Water (NIW) emerged from a special board meeting to say their priority is to fix the leaks that have crippled the supply system.

They said 4,400 homes have been without water since Monday but they pledged to step up efforts to end the crisis.

Interim chairman Padraic White said chief executive Laurence MacKenzie had not resigned, despite growing pressure, but he said a fully independent review of the episode should take place.

Mr White said the immediate focus is on restoring supplies: “It is easy to create a frenzy but it is not helpful.”

He said 4,400 customers are currently without, down from 7,000 on Thursday.

He said reservoirs are gradually refilling across the province, however Belfast reservoirs remain in a “most precarious position”.

“We expect to see a gradual improvement over the coming days,” he said.

As part of dealing with the crisis, water supplies to 1,000 customers are being rotated.

“It’s a normal part of water management, in all jurisdictions, to put people on a rotation of supply,” Mr White said.