Hospital's water supply back to normal after burst water main
BBCWater supply at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry has returned to normal after a burst water main resulted in staff having to distribute bottled water to patients.
On Tuesday, NI Water (NIW) said it had completed repairs to the pipe at Glenshane Road, but the "high flow of the burst had caused some discolouration in the network".
The Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT) said staff had worked overnight and supply has now returned to normal.
The trust said any infection prevention and control measures still in place at the Derry hospital "are purely precautionary to allow final controls and checks to be assessed".
Earlier on Wednesday, the trust said measures implemented in hospital wards and clinical areas had been stood down.
"There are a number of non-clinical areas and buildings across the hospital site where measures will remain in place until later this morning," a trust spokeswoman said.
On Tuesday night, a patient who is currently being treated in Altnagelvin, told BBC News NI that a nurse had warned him not to drink water from the hospital's own supply.
"They give you a pitcher of water in the morning and a glass. They came around a couple of hours ago and took it away," the patient said.
"The nurse said: 'You can't drink it, there's something wrong with it'.
"She didn't seem panicked but she emphasised do not be drinking that.
"She took away the glass and the pitcher. She said we're in the process of bringing in bottled water."
The man said he was later given a half litre of bottled water by a nurse.
In a statement to BBC News NI on Tuesday, the trust's spokesperson said it was made aware of a potential issue with the water supply to the hospital late that afternoon "following a report of potentially discoloured water from staff".
"Business continuity arrangements were immediately mobilised supported by the trust's estates, infection prevention control, support services and hospital management teams to effectively assess and mitigate any risks."
They added they had worked with NI Water which was "prioritising the supply to the Altnagelvin Hospital site".
NI Water said the hospital's water supply was not interrupted on Tuesday but there was "some water discolouration earlier in the day".
"Bursts of this nature can occur anywhere on our network, for a variety of reasons, including the age and condition of the pipework, location, weather etc," it added.
"Restoring customers' supply has been our first priority throughout this incident and NI Water is very grateful for the patience and co-operation of affected customers."