Air pockets hamper return of Oxfordshire water supplies

Air pockets in water pipes have been hampering efforts to restore supplies to properties following a burst main. At least 12 schools, along with thousands of homes in Oxfordshire, in the OX7, OX18, OX28, OX29 and GL7 postcodes have had no water or low pressure since a broken pipe that feeds reservoirs was found next to Oxford Road at Eynsham earlier this week. Thames Water said it was gradually restoring supplies but it was monitoring air trapped in the network that could prevent pressure from returning to normal. An update on Saturday said supplies were "continuing to improve". Bottled water stations remain in operation at Witney at Sainsbury's and at Morrisons, Carterton. Thames Water said the pipe had been fixed on Thursday evening and refilling of the network was carried out throughout Friday. It explained that the sudden loss of pressure let air into the system when the main burst, causing air pockets to form, especially at higher points. "Our teams are actively working to remove this trapped air by flushing the system and carefully managing flows across the network. "This can take some time, but it will help restore normal water pressure as quickly as possible," it added. It