A PENSIONER living in a stunning national park has slammed a water company after a “tsunami” erupted outside his house.
John McDowell has lived with his wife Elaine in the village of Liverton in Newton Abbot, part of Dartmoor National Park, for 23 years after they relocated from London.
Around 18 months ago, a leak appeared in the lane just a 100 yards from their historic farmhouse, and several weeks ago a mains pipe burst causing a flood.
Ex-British Airways engineer John, 67, says South West Water (SWW) originally claimed the leak was a “natural spring“.
He told The Sun: “About 10 weeks ago their natural stream turned into a natural tsunami because the mains burst – it was one of their leaks all along.”
And while workmen came out to stem the burst pipe, the leak continued, with a steady stream of water now running down the hill permanently.
John has reported the problem multiple times, as has his wife and neighbours, but believes SWW “don’t care”.
He said he worries that once the winter arrives, the stream will freeze causing a hazard as gritters only target the main roads and not the more remote routes like the impacted lane.
He said in the colder weather the steep road – the only way in and out for many residents – is already “like a toboggan run”.
“If I put my brakes on and I’m sliding down the hill, I hit a car or run someone over it’s a knock on effect,” he explained.
“It can’t be rocket science to fix a leak, we did put a man on the Moon.”
The grandfather-of-four said the “funny thing is”, the ordeal has coincided with SWW’s ‘Save Every Drop’ campaign encouraging people and businesses to save water to help the environment.
They’ve sent out leaflets with the water bills explaining how homeowners can save usage in order to allow reservoir levels to rise.
But he estimates the leak has wasted “thousands of gallons” of water over the months.
“If every drop counts you’ve got to be losing a gallon a minute,” he said.
“There was a film many years ago with Clint Eastwood, The Outlaw Josey Wales. He said ‘don’t p*** up my back and tell me it’s raining.’”
He continued: “You phone up and it’s like you’re talking Chinese. Your pipe’s still leaking and you’re telling me to fix my tap washers and do my bit for the planet, which I do anyway – but what are they doing?
“I’ve got a lump on my forehead banging my head against the wall. No one’s listening.”
John said the engineers who dealt with the mains leak even left all their signage and cones in the road, which he has collected up himself.
If your water supply is interrupted by an emergency, such as a burst main water pipe, your water company must restore the supply within 12 hours of becoming aware of the problem.
However, if it’s in a strategic main pipe, they must restore the supply within 48 hours.
Furthermore, all water companies have a code of practice on leaks.
But the responsibility for repairing them depends on where the leak is.
The water company is responsible for the water mains in the ground and usually for the communication pipe.
This is the part of the service pipe leading up to your property boundary from the mains.
On the other hand, in most cases, it’s your responsibility to maintain the supply pipe
While the flooding didn’t impact his home as the hill runs away from it, he explained: “You can see on the roads where the water’s been running for about 18 months the road’s collapsing.
“But of course, no one wants to own it.
“The tarmacking repairs look like they’ve been done by a 3-year-old. They couldn’t even bring a broom with them to sweep up.”
He added that as soon as there’s a frost “it all lifts up again”.
It remains unclear whether SWW are taking ownership of the current leak.
John said: “I’m sure you would think in this day and age they’ve got some sniffer or litmus test to put in and say oh yeah it must be ours.”
He went on to say: “We live in a beautiful part of the world.
“I’ll cherish every blade of grass, coming from London.
“Even 23 years later I still say how lucky we are to live there, and I’ll do everything I can to preserve it.
“But when you’ve got big authorities that just don’t give a damn.
“I’m 68 this year, another 10 years is going to make a mess of me but I try to look after the planet, I’ve got grandkids.”
A South West Water spokesperson said: “We investigated these claims when they were first reported to us in July last year and we found the water was coming from a naturally occurring spring and not from our network.
“We repaired a burst water main in June this year but this was unrelated.”
The Sun has also approached Dartmoor National Park Authority for comment.
