Farmer with 40 horses left without water for three days

A Warwickshire farmer has hit out after his 40 horses were left without water for three days during the recent heatwave because of water supply problems.

Chris Gardner said the standoff between Water Plus, the company that handles his commercial water billing, and his supplier Severn Trent Water, could have resulted in a serious animal welfare problem.

He discovered at lunchtime on Monday (2 July) his water supply had been cut off. He checked with neighbours and their supplies were running as normal.

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Mr Gardner called Water Plus who told him they did not manage the water supply and advised him to contact Severn Trent Water.

“Water Plus told us: ‘It’s not our problem. You need to contact Severn Trent.’ But when we contacted Severn Trent Water they told us they could not supply emergency water as they would be fined by Water Plus for supplying unregulated water.”

Severn Trent Water sent an engineer to the Mill Farm, in Ashorne, on Monday (2 July) evening, but despite best efforts, the problem could not be resolved.

Neighbour helps

In the meantime, a kind neighbour offered Mr Gardner some emergency water from a borehole. An intermediate bulk container was used to transport the water to his farm.

Severn Trent Water sent a second engineer to the farm on Tuesday (3 July). He located the stopcock and established the meter was not turning around. An engineer managed to restore water to the farm on Thursday morning (5 July).

Mr Gardner said: “We went through a fairly scary period of not knowing where our water was going to come from during the hottest time of the year.

“Without the help of neighbours and #ClubHectare for raising the issue on Twitter, there could have been a serious animal welfare issue for our horses.

“Firefighters from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service were also amazing. They said they were not supposed to bring water out but realised there was an animal emergency and they did not want to let the horses suffer.

“Severn Trent Water did everything to supply us water. But Water Plus put their profits before animal welfare.”

Farmer Chris Gardner’s wife Maddy, with one of their horses, and firefighters from Wellesbourne fire station

Water Plus response

A spokesman for Water Plus said: “We are pleased the water supply has been restored by Severn Trent to the farmer and we appreciate the situation has been difficult for Mr Gardner and the horses at the site.

“To support the farmer, we have been directly liaising with Severn Trent, who are the wholesaler for the area and responsible for managing any network water supply issues. Severn Trent say the issue was on the customer’s private pipes on their site.”

The spokesman added: “Our role in resolving supply problems, as a water retailer, is limited to arranging a technician to investigate a potential leak on a customer site, where this is appropriate.

“This is a paid for service we provide to support customers who request it. Wholesalers would work on repairs and supplies on the water network and provide updates to affected areas.

“The customer did make a request on Twitter last night for emergency supplies.

“On this occasion, we were unable to provide an emergency water delivery from our approved partner, which is a paid for service, due to the levels of demand for the service caused by the hot weather across England.

“We are also working with the relevant industry bodies on the priority currently given to farmers and sites with livestock when there are interruptions to water supplies on networks supplying their sites.

“We are pleased Severn Trent have restored the water on site and we continue our contact with the customer to investigate what has happened.”