A dad-of-three has claimed he and his family have been unable to wash, cook or clean for two weeks after their water was stopped.
Gavin Divers, 38, from Paisley in the Lowlands of Scotland, and his wife and kids were being forced to go to their in-laws to wash but now can't after their other family members caught Covid.
Gavin lives in the top floor flat in Glenburn with wife Cherine, 11-year-old daughter Elisha, three-year-old Freya and Arya, who’s one, and has been left angered by being "bounced around" by Scottish Water and Renfrewshire Council, who are both investigating the source of the problem, the Daily Record reports.
He said: “We’ve had problems with the water since October last year but it properly stopped two weeks ago.
“I’ve been phoning Renfrewshire Council and Scottish Water every day, I keep being bounced between the two of them. It feels like no-one is taking any interest.
“We can’t wash our clothes or our dishes or ourselves. We were going to my in-laws and my family to wash but they’ve both got Covid now so we’re stuck.
“We paid out of our own pocket to stay at the Gleniffer Hotel but we can’t afford to keep doing that.”
The issue has been made more complex by the fact Gavin's flat is privately owned, while the flats below are council-owned.
If the source of the water problem is in the garden then it falls to Renfrewshire Council to fix it. If it’s in the street, then it’s down to Scottish Water.
The dad-of-three, who says he reported the issue on February 26, added: “I’ve got a stoma bag which I need to keep clean. We need to make bottles for our youngest.
“They should be paying for us to stay in a local hotel. I shouldn’t have to be chasing them to find out what’s happening.
“There are five of us in our flat, it’s utter bedlam.”
A spokesperson for Renfrewshire Council said: “Investigations have been carried out in conjunction with Scottish Water since the issue was first identified.
“We have now identified the source of a water leak, and this will be fixed as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for Scottish Water confirmed the issue was not with the public water system. He said: “In response to reports of issues affecting the water supply to Mr Divers’ home, our local team has attended and investigated.
“On each occasion, we have confirmed that there are no issues affecting the public water network that Scottish Water maintains.
“We have been liaising with Renfrewshire Council and with Mr Divers to inform them of our findings and provide advice.
“In an effort to help in the interim, we have provided a supply of bottled water this week on a goodwill basis. We hope that this will assist while the situation affecting the building’s private pipework is resolved.”
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