A water main that burst four times within hours caused traffic chaos in Spalding.
Anglian Water engineers were called out initially after a problem on Wednesday afternoon.
As the company worked to sort a burst main, the problem shifted from Haverfield Road to Winsover Road – one of the town’s busiest thoroughfares.
Water was turned off completely on Thursday so repairs could continue.
Roads were still closed and Anglian Water said the issue was more difficult than initially thought.
Businessman Jason Rooke, of Rooke’s Pet Products on Cradge Bank, said he had been told by workmen that the Winsover Road burst happened when water was diverted away from the Haverfield Road leak.
“What they’ve been telling me about 100-year-old pipes and the work that’s going on backs up my view that the infrastructure has not been maintained or updated to cope with increasing demand and is not fit for purpose. That is despite the amount we all pay for water,” he said.
Spalding Grammar School remained closed on Thursday and Friday and businesses were forced to turn customers away as a result of having no water. It had been hoped the repairs could be finished by the early hours, but that was pushed forward.
District councillor Mark Le Sage said an action plan should be in place for significant infrastructure failures in the future.
“Anglian Water staff were doing their best and worked through the night to try and get people back on as quickly as they can,” he said.
“I’m grateful to Anglian Water staff for working so hard. Things didn’t quite go to plan and we need to work with them to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again in the future.”
A spokesman for Anglian Water apologised for the problems.
“We’re so sorry that many customers in Spalding were impacted by an interruption to their water supply last week. This was due to four successive burst water mains which was likely caused by ground movement.
“When pipes burst it can affect water pressures across the whole local network which is likely why there were further bursts following the first two on Wednesday.
“While we despatched our teams out quickly to get things back to normal as fast as possible, the complicated nature of this repair meant it took far longer than we’d hoped to get the damaged pipes replaced and get the water supply back on.
“We’re pleased to say customers’ supplies should be back to normal, although some areas may be experiencing lower pressures that they’re used to until all of our work is finished.”
