Thousands of homes in the Greenock area have been left without water after ice is blocking water from Loch Thom.
Specialist divers from Scottish Water have been tasked with removing huge ice blockages from the loch near Greenock Water Treatment Works which supplies 13,000 homes and business in Inverclyde.
It comes after temperatures plummeted as the Met Office issued a fresh weather warning for the majority of Scotland.
Blizzard like conditions are expected to hit the country, with the west coast being warned of Arctic winds.
Now Scottish Water have been forced to set up water stations as supplies to approximately 13,000 homes and businesses have been halted in Greenock, Gourock, Inverkip, Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie.
Two bottled water distribution points have been set up in Inverclyde to help customers impacted by ice blocking the local water treatment works.
Engineers have also reconfigured the water network to reduce the area served by the Water Treatment Works to a minimum.
Extra drinking water is being brought into the area by road tankers in order to maintain supply to homes and businesses via the water network where possible.
Bottled water is being distributed to customers on Scottish Water’s Priority Service Register, who may be vulnerable if their supply is interrupted and a first ‘drive through’ bottled water distribution point has been established for customers whose supply is interrupted.
A spokesperson for Scottish Water said:“Our team has been working over the course of the day in challenging conditions to restore normal production of drinking water at Greenock Water Treatment Works.
"Efforts are continuing with divers making progress with clearing the intake at Loch Thom.
“With reserves of stored water in the network diminished, we expect some customers will experience disruption to their supply. We have put plans in place to provide alternative water supplies and support for customers in the area, should they lose supply.
“We would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience that this is causing.
"We continue working to restore normal service as quickly as possible and to provide support for affected customers in the meantime.”
If you require additional support, please use this link to sign up as a Priority Services Customer.
