Tap water to be restored to flood-hit homes

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) Water supply is expected to be restored to thousands of homes in flood-hit areas today, although a full recovery remains days away.

Severn Trent Water said it was ready to start pumping waterto Gloucester, one of the worst affected counties, from around noon.

It follows the restoration of the Mythe water treatment works in the market town of Tewkesbury, which was submerged by flooding.

But it could take several days for supplies to filter through to 60,000 homes affected in Gloucester.

Even once supply is restored, homeowners are warned that the water is not safe to drink, even if boiled. It can be used for showering, bathing, flushing toilets and washing clothes.

Andy Smith, Severn Trent's director of water services, said: ''This a controlled process to refill more than a thousand miles of empty water pipes and we must emphasise that it may take several days for supplies to filter through to 60,000 homes in Gloucester.

''We cannot give exact timescales for how long this process will take, as it is heavily dependant on demand levels.

''We are expecting high demand because, understandably, people who have been without water for more than a week will be eager to make use of a reconnected mains supply.'' Water will start to flow through taps in Quedgeley, Bishop's Cleeve, Prestbury, Gloucester, Churchdown, Eastern Ave, Longlevens, Treadworth, Abbeymead, Abbeydale, Barnwood, Tuffley, Podsmead and Sandhurst today.

Smith said the company aims to begin pumping water to Cheltenham and the areas nearby from tomorrow.

Emergency drinking water will continue to be supplied from water tanks and bottles.

Severn Trent said there are 1,000 tanks in affected areas and five million litres of bottled water is being handed out per day.

More than 130,000 homes have been relying on bottled water and emergency water tanks on the streets after the floods forced the closure of the Mythe plant.

Thousands of people breathed a sigh of relief yesterday, after heavy overnight rain failed to cause new flooding and forecasters predicted better weather.

The Met Office said that only 10mm of rain fell in the region, far less than expected, sparing towns already suffering from the worst flooding in 60 years.

The wettest summer since records began has brought two bouts of flooding to parts of England, killing at least nine people, damaging houses and destroying crops.

A man's body was found in a flooded field on Saturday near Tewkesbury.

Insurers estimate the flood damage at about 3 billion pounds.

REUTERS PD RN15