Decision report 201102957

Summary

Ms C complained that it was unreasonable that her water pressure was low for almost six months. She also complained that Scottish Water's handling of her concerns was inappropriate. Scottish Water had reduced the pressure in Ms C's area after a number of burst pipes. They said that this work was carried out as a temporary measure until they could secure funding to upgrade the water network in the area. Although this reduced the frequency of burst pipes and interruptions to supply, some customers complained about the low pressure.

When we made enquiries, Scottish Water told us that the worst affected properties were second floor flats. They said that when there was a high demand for water, the ground and first floor flats would take away pressure from the second floor flats. Scottish Water said that after receiving the complaints about low pressure, they carried out further temporary work in the area and successfully increased the water pressure.

We found that the evidence did not show that Ms C's water supply was constantly low during the relevant period. However, it was intermittently low for a number of months. We also found that Scottish Water had delayed in taking action to resolve the problem. Although we upheld Ms C's complaints, we found that the action taken by Scottish Water in response to Ms C's complaint about their handling of the matter was reasonable and proportionate. They had apologised to her and had offered her financial redress. They also outlined what action they would take to try to prevent similar problems arising. In view of this action, we did not make any recommendations.