Burst main leaves '˜up to 5,000' Bowhouse properties with no water

The 10-inch pipe in Inchyra Road fractured some time during the early hours, cutting supplies to up to 5,000 homes and business premises.

Only Bowhouse appears to be affected.

Scottish Water says it aims to rezone the water supply network so it can restore supplies by diverting the flow away from the burst pipe section.

A spokesman told the Falkirk Herald this is a “relatively straightforward” operation that will see homes reconnected gradually, street by street.

However an unknown number of homes may have to manage without water for several hours until the rezoning is complete.

There are no plans to bring in emergency supplies, as Scottish Water hopes the problem will be resolved before that would be practical or necessary.

Scottish Water’s spokesman said: “We attended this burst as quickly as possible and have made good progress in isolating it and re-zoning the network to enable us to start restoring normal supplies.

“We would like to apologise to customers who have been without water, or have experienced a reduction in water pressure, and thank them for their patience and understanding.”

When normal water supplies are restored, affected properties could experience discoloured water which is said to be normal after a burst of this kind.

People are advised to run the cold water tap in their kitchen until the water runs clear.

We’ll have more information as it becomes available throughout today.