NI Water is warning vandals in West Belfast that tampering with its assets is illegal. Over the last week, NI Water has seen 4 stop taps and numerous fire hydrants vandalised in the area, resulting in interruption to supply to neighbouring homes.

External stop taps, which are located on the footpath, are NI Water property and it is illegal to vandalise them. They are there to ensure the homes they serve receive an adequate water supply. The stop taps vandalised last week, which were located in the Andersonstown area and included the local library, resulted in customers being without water for several hours.

There were also a number of fire hydrants opened over the Easter holidays. A common misconception is that this is harmless fun. However, it is important for parents and guardians of young people to realise that opening hydrants not only results in an interruption to supply to many homes and businesses, but also endangers the local community. NI Water is calling on those responsible to consider that their actions could result in loss of life if a hydrant was unusable due to vandalism.

Ian Glass, Networks Distribution Manager for the area, stresses the seriousness of this activity:

“Damaging fire hydrants is not only extremely dangerous for the people living in the area if a fire was to break out, but also a huge inconvenience to those whose water supply is affected as a result. Unfortunately, this activity is increasing in West Belfast with over 100 hydrants vandalised in 2010, wasting valuable time and money. Stop taps in the Andersonstown area were also damaged, resulting in customers unnecessarily being without water for several hours.

“This activity has serious implications as water hydrants are used by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service when they report to the scene of a fire. If one or more hydrants are damaged in an area, there is a very real risk that there will be no source of water to extinguish the blaze. This could potentially result in the loss of life.

“I would appeal to everyone to consider who they are putting at risk; it could even be their own family and friends.”

Hydrant abuse also results in an estimated amount of water lost per day that is equivalent to the daily water used in 2000 homes. This is a staggering waste that significantly impacts on NI Water’s ability to maintain flows and pressures to other homes as well as industry, including hospitals.

NI Water is asking communities to say “No” to this anti-social behaviour and report vandalism to the PSNI or to Waterline on 08457 440088.