A FLEET of tankers were put on standby in a bid to keep the water running for 37,000 homes in Warrington.

Repairs to a leak on a major water main could have stopped the water supply in the town.

Water giant United Utilities had to figure out a way to keep water supplies flowing for the 37,000 homes in the town before it could isolate the leak and get on with the repair work.

Engineers spent over a week planning the repairs, which involved building a temporary bypass on the two-foot diameter pipe. As well as rerouting supplies around the vast water network, United Utilities also had a fleet of 37 water on wheels tankers on standby in case they were needed.

A special task team worked around the clock to manage the repair work on Dan’s Road, near Fiddlers Ferry Power Station.

Contingency plans were also put in place in case the pipe burst.

United Utilities’ Mike Wood explained: “This incident was out of the ordinary due to the size of the pipe and the number of customers it serves but our teams are constantly working behind the scenes making sure that communities can go about their usual business secure in the knowledge that we’ll be keeping the taps flowing and the toilets flushing.

“Customers in Warrington would have been none the wiser that all this emergency planning was going on.

“Everything worked liked clockwork and we repaired the pipe and kept the taps on so that no customers in Warrington were without water during this repair and the whole incident was successfully completed by Sunday afternoon.”