A LEAKING water mains is to blame for flooding in the grounds of The Bowes Museum
For the past three months water has been bubbling up from the ground at the base of trees in a woodland walk, creating a mini-lake. The constantly flowing water has eroded footpaths on the popular route through the grounds and has turned grassed areas into quagmires.
One Barnard Castle resident, who reported the problem to museum staff in January, was told the matter water in hand. However two months on the water is still flowing. She added: “This has been flowing since before Christmas, but it’s now March and the water leakage is just as bad. We are always being told not to waste water.”
Alison White, from The Bowes Museum, said staff were working to resolve the problem, though had been initially told it was “surface water” resulting from the unprecedented amount of rainfall over the past few months.
She added the charity would be applying for funding to help repair the paths when investigation work with Northumbrian Water had been completed.
A spokesperson for Northumbria Water confirmed it was helping the museum, but pointed out the leak was on a privately owned section of the pipe – something the firm would not usually repair but suggested the commercial arm of their company may carry out the work.
