Broken tap at hospital ran for months and wasted a million litres of water before being fixed

A broken tap ran at a hospital for nearly three months and wasted around a million litres of water, according to reports.

The tap at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd emergency department in Denbighshire, was fixed on 26 October, the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board claimed, but the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting Service said a sticker by the tap showed the matter was reported on 7 August.

A running tap uses ten litres of water a minute, according to campaign group Let’s Save Water.

The tap was running for 81 days, according to the BBC, which means that as much as 1,166,400 litres of water may have been used while it was broken.

Not-for-profit group Waterwise said it was appalled by the waste of water.

Chief executive Nicci Russell told the BBC: "This is an absolutely horrific waste of water when we can scarcely afford to be wasting water.

"The climate change committee is telling us drought is one of our top three climate risks.

"Our current water systems are not even fit for the current climate let alone what is coming - parts of Wales are still in drought."

Denbighshire County Council member Chris Evans was sent a video of the tap, shot on 11 October, by a constituent, according to the BBC.

He said: "It sums up what is wrong with Betsi, that they can't even sort a running tap that's been running since August."

The health board, which runs the hospital, said that consideration was given to the requirements of the emergency department but the drip “deteriorated to a more substantial flow” over time.

Betsi's Arwel Hughes, operational estates chief at the health board, said: "The fault reported to our estates team was identified as a minor drip from a specialist clinical tap, which subsequently deteriorated to a more substantial flow.

"Although a replacement part was ordered from the manufacturer promptly, repair was delayed until Monday 26 October due to supplier lead times."

"Any decision to isolate or remove the facility from use had to be carefully balanced against the potential impact on patient care, including the availability of essential handwashing facilities within a busy clinical environment," he added.

"We are currently working with our suppliers to review and improve the availability and lead times of specialist replacement parts, in order to reduce future repair times."