A dad has been left fuming after claims his family have been without water on more than 12 occasions in the last year.
Asim Anwar, 38, says he and fellow neighbours are 'fed up' with the situation. In the past two weeks alone, they've been left without a water supply of three separate occasions.
Married to wife Zarina, they have two daughters aged five and two and live in the Shawclough area of Rochdale.
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Speaking on Thursday, during another supply cut, he said: "Residents are fed up due to the number of times we have had no water. The water has been off over 12 times in the last year. In the past two weeks alone we have been without water on three separate occasions.
"This is impacting our daily lives as we are unable to shower and we have two young children. The water pressure today was just enough to get a drink of water, but we couldn't get a shower.
"United Utilities' response is that the pipelines are old and need replacement, but they only have a set amount of funds. No bottled water is being provided by the company either. I find this totally unacceptable."
Asim said he and others living in the area around Lowerfold Drive in Shawclough have raised the issue with Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd, who they said was looking into the matter.
The family have lived in the property, built in the 1970s, for just over two years. Asim said problems with the water supply began as soon as they moved in.
"Every time the water goes off, United Utilities drop us a text message, saying they are aware of it and are working on it. I have got that many of them on my phone that I can scroll through them all. It has always been a problem since we moved in.
"The water was off last weekend and stayed off on one day from 5pm until 4pm. It also went off on August 7 and on July 30. It keeps happening on and off all the time.
"It's ridiculous and a real inconvenience. I have got two young kids who are five and under and we are talking about nappy changes and baths and drinking water. We pay by Direct Debit and our bills have been coming to around £260 every six months.
"I went through to the United Utilities complaints department. They said they get it, and it's not good enough. They said they have only got a set amount of funds but those are allocated on a needs basis.
"If the water has been off three times in a week, I would class that as high priority, especially as it has happened many times before.
"The neighbours are not happy as well. It's the whole area. We have a neighbourhood messaging app and people are just on it all the time about the water. Apparently the pipes are really old, but something needs to be done."
Asim shared a text message he got from United Utilities on Thursday morning apologising and saying a burst water main was being 'tackled' at Healey Dell Nature Reserve nearby.
A United Utilities spokesperson, said: "Unfortunately, in the last couple of weeks there have been three bursts on the network in the vicinity of Healey Dell Nature Reserve.
"This has caused some customers in the Shawclough area of Rochdale to experience low pressure or be without water whilst repairs were carried out. We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and we will be compensating those customers that have been impacted.
"In the last two years, we have made significant investment to improve resilience in the surrounding water network and we will be reviewing the data from these three recent bursts to see what further improvements can be made."
