2010-11-19 06:57

Firefighters in Zhengzhou, Henan province,supply local residents with water on Thursday, following a shortage created by a burst in the main on Wednesday. Xiang Mingchao/China Daily

Zhengzhou - The water supply for 800,000 residents in Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, partly resumed on Thursday, one day after a burst pipe created a shortage.

Following the partially restored supply, about 1,000 families nevertheless remained inconvenienced by the disruption and trucks were being used on Thursday to ferry water to the affected residents, local authorities said.

A water main near the Shiyuan Water Plant, the city's largest, burst on Wednesday morning, damaging a 10-meter section of the pipeline.

According to local media reports, there are seven major water mains near the plant, which has experienced around 10 pipe bursts in the area over the past seven years.

In the latest incident, the water supply was disrupted for 800,000 people who live in the southwestern part of Zhengzhou.

"The plant had to suspend operations because all of its 11 water pumps were submerged in the burst," said Zhang Zhenjie, deputy director of Zhengzhou Water Supply Corp.

Five of the plant's 11 water pumps returned to normal on Thursday morning.

"We are now trying to dig out the damaged pipe, which is 6 meters underground, and then replace it with a new one," Zhang said.

A team of 80 were involved in the repair work, which Zhang anticipated would take another 60 hours to complete.

He said he expected the city's water supply to be completely restored by Friday night.

Many residents have had their lives disrupted by the water shortage.

A local resident, surnamed Li, told China Daily she discovered the water supply was cut off at home when she went to cook lunch on Wednesday.

"I now have to fetch water from water trucks nearby. It is a real nuisance, but I have no choice," she said.

The damaged pipe was built in 1976 and buried under an overpass. Local authorities blamed the burst on the traffic load, along with day and night temperatures varying at this time of year.

After years of development, the seven mains, which were originally placed along the roadsides, gradually ended up under main roads, said Zhang, who attributed pipe bursts in the area to the age of the water supply system and the traffic volume.

The plant had been working with authorities to change the pipe routing since December 2007, but had yet to get around to moving the one that burst, he added.

China Daily