Hundreds of residents in Newport have been left without heating or hot water due to leaks in their heating system. Around 900 homes across the Duffryn estate in Newport have been without heating or hot water since midnight on Tuesday, February 14, after having their supply switched off to repair faults in the system's pipes.
Most of the estate's houses, which were built in the 1970s, are heated by a single biomass boiler which provides residents with hot water and heating. However, leaks in the underground pipes have forced Newport City Homes, which operates the system, to switch off the supply in order to carry out repairs. It says it estimates supply to be off for three days.
Residents, who also had no supply for a period last week due to a separate leak, are being offered £20 for each day heating and hot water is unavailable, as well as being given blankets and portable heaters to help keep warm. Newport City Homes has apologised to residents and said it was doing "everything we can to carry out repairs safely while limiting the disruption to hot water and heating supply".
76-year-old Vera Griffith has lived on Sandpiper Way on the estate for over 40 years. As we chat, she is wrapped up in a dressing gown next to one of the heaters she has been given.
"It's awkward," she said. "It wasn't so bad last night because the heating didn't go off until 12 o'clock. But it was cold in the early hours of the morning. I had my extra blankets on me. I've been out the kitchen and put the blower on because it's so cold out there.
"They put a letter through the letterbox on Tuesday morning telling us it was going off and where to get the blankets and heaters. We're lucky here because I bought this house and have the shower run by electric. We can all have a shower to get warm," she added, chuckling.
"But to do the washing up is back to the kettle. I'm wearing a dressing gown and I got out a pair of thick joggers I haven't worn for years since the snow. And a jumper - I'd not worn a jumper for God knows how long. I've got a heated jacket too.
"If anything goes off, it gets really, really cold here. It is freezing when there's nothing on. The kitchen, the bathroom are always cold."
Vera said the recurring issues with the system came on top of the huge increases in energy costs which have seen gas and electric rise to double what they were last winter. "When I first moved down here it must have been something like £20 a month. Then it started going up and up, then they put meters in.
"I thought you'd have pensioners afraid to use it because they don't know how much it's going to top up. I'm a pensioner myself. We've all thought about how much we're using but mine is really expensive. At the moment I'm paying £30 a week for mine and there's not a lot used. We've all complained about how much it's gone up.
"We've gone mad about this system for years. They've put new parts on old parts and it don't work. The money will help a little bit I suppose, but we lost last week when it was off for a while."
Vera's son Robert, 53, said something permanent needed to be done with the system in Duffryn rather than temporary fixes. "That line is down so long now, it's starting to perish," he said. "Alright, it is getting a bit warmer but not in the evenings or mornings, it is cold. It's not fair for pensioners to have to dress up like a Stormtrooper.
"They come out and fix things and then a couple of days later something else goes wrong. It's the valves, they say. [They're giving] £20 a day for this water being off, but it's costing more to run these heaters. It's rinsing the electric. They're giving it to you in one hand and taking it away in another.
"Surely it's costing them more [to keep repairing]? In the summer time, they should have a plan in place of doing the whole lot when you don't mind not having any heating or water as much. That pipeline has been in there for 40 odd years, it's got to be starting to break in places. As soon as they fix one point, it will put more pressure further down the line which is going to cause another burst.
"So they'll be digging up one place, then digging up another three days later. They could replace the whole system and it wouldn't take long. Maybe three days if they had a lot of machines, I reckon."
The latest issues in Duffryn come after some were left with no heating or hot water last Friday due to another leak in the pipes. Lesley Smith, 71, uses a mobility scooter which she had to use to transport a portable heater from Nightingale Court on Tuesday, before the heating went off.
"I think it's disgusting," she said. "I've got a house that takes ages to get warm. We can't have a bath or shower, because we've got no hot water. You've got to boil the kettle or saucepan to do the washing up, wash the floor. You normally turn on the tap, fill up the bucket and off you go.
"I wouldn't say it's been an ongoing thing but maybe the last two years or so. We used to pay £9.39 a week but most of us are now on pay-as-you-go meters and can put on £30 to £50 a week. I think it's disgusting what we've got to pay.
"They said to go and get heaters in Nightingale Court. It was light but I managed to put it across there," she gestured to below her legs on the scooter, admitting it wasn't an ideal situation.
"We're supposed to be off for another three days. It was cold this morning. I didn't want to get out of bed. I put my dressing gown on and even a blanket across my knees if it's that cold."
Gene Norville, 59, said the distance between the boiler station that operates the heating supply and many of the houses meant his home often took a long time to warm up. "For it to warm up, go through the main pipes and into the heating takes time. They've got to shut it off and cool it down to do the pipes again, which is what they're doing now.
"You can't have a shave, because you've got no hot water. They said they'd provide hot water - what are they going to do? Bring it around in buckets? My wife has COPD and gets cold in the nights so I've got to keep her warm.
"You can't wash, unless you want to wash in cold water. I have an electric shower, but there's no hot water to shave, do your dishes. You get quite reliant on how you live. If anything quite drastic happens in this country, it's a bit of a shock.
"It does get cold. We shut the door - my wife sleeps down here [in the living room] because it's too cold upstairs. Keeping an electric heater on is worse. £20 a day - it's not about that.
"These houses have been here over 40 years, the pipes have been in the ground that long. It was a good system, but then people wanted their independent heating. Since then it's gone downhill."
Claire Myers has her children at home and said they were managing despite the issues.
"It is cold. During the day it's not too bad - it's when it comes to evening time. My daughter will be three next week and is petrified of the shower, so it's baths for her. So that's a bit difficult - there's no way you can run a bath with a kettle. If you run it with a shower it'll be cold before you get in it.
"They gave us warning so they all had their baths last night. We're managing. It's tough, it's cold in the evening - but we're indoors. There are people living out on the streets in tents and cardboard boxes. We shouldn't have to [live like this] but it isn't their fault.
"I wrap up in dressing gowns like an old lady anyway," she laughed. "My boys sleep with their window open normally. It's mainly the water [is the problem]. I've had to boil the kettle three times this morning to wash up after breakfast. But it's only a couple of days. It is what it is. It's the elderly I feel for the most."
64-year-old Jane Hobbs is sitting outside when we chat and said she was also coping with the outage.
"It's warmer out here than it is in the house," she said. "There are only two places in the country where everyone shares the same system. I can't fault the system myself but I know other people do. They are trying to keep the cost down and haven't put our heating up in God knows how many years. We've stayed and if it's off in the summer, we don't get charged.
"They've helped giving blankets, heaters, they're sorting out money for the electric. They've come around to give notifications. I think they've been pretty good."
Jane admitted she was worried about the issues continuing but that she had faith in the workers to solve the problems.
"I've just been over now and they really are trying their best. It's a good job the sun is out. We could be living like Turkey is now, you know what I mean? We are nothing.
"It is cold in the house, but what can you do? It's part of life. All the pipes could have frozen from the frost. It's hard, you have to boil water - you can still use the washing machine on 30 degrees. My shower is off but I've got family [I can go to]. I do feel sorry for the old age pensioners."
A Newport City Homes spokesperson said on Tuesday that the heating and hot water supply will need to stay off for three days but that it would keep residents updated on the situation.
"Following our updates to the community yesterday, we have now turned off the heating and hot water to all homes across the Duffryn estate," they added on Wednesday.
“We’re working to find the leaks on our underground pipework and understand what we need to do to repair them safely. Our pipework is eight metres underground, and our teams and specialist contractors are currently on site carrying out this excavation. We’re making good progress.
“We have seen some evidence of disturbance to the casing of the pipework, which we need to remove and carry out some investigation to find the exact location of the repair.
“We’re extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing. If you or someone you live with is vulnerable and needs access to heating or hot water sooner, let us know and we can help. We have temporary heaters and blankets - if you need one of these please let us know on 01633 381 111. They can also be collected from Nightingale Court between 1pm and 8pm.”
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