Three schools were forced to close yesterday and more than 4,500 homes were left without water after a main burst on one of the city’s busiest roads.
Pupils of Abbotswell Primary, Walker Road Primary and Torry Academy were unable to attend classes due to problems which shut off taps and deprived them of toilet facilities.
Part of West Tullos Road was also shut after the underground pipe on the street ruptured shortly after 3am yesterday and may remain closed for almost a week.
Northbound motorists were unable to travel between its junctions with Abbotswell Road and Great Southern Road due to the road closure.
Scottish Water engineers and staff were hard at work yesterday in an effort to bring alternative water supplies to affected homes, schools and businesses.
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “Due to a burst water main, Abbotswell Primary, Walker Road Primary, and Torry Academy had to be closed to pupils.
“West Tullos Road is also closed to north-west-bound traffic between Abbotswell Road and King George VI Bridge Roundabout due to the burst. It remains open to south-east-bound traffic.
“At this moment, we anticipate that it will remain closed until Wednesday evening.”
The local authority said Kingsford School in the city was also closed yesterday due to a separate issue with a power failure that affected the local area.
That he school building is expected to reopen today.
A Scottish Water spokesman said: “A burst water main was located on West Tullos Road, Aberdeen early on Thursday morning. Engineers were on site as soon as possible to isolate the issue and minimise the number of properties affected.
“We have re-routed water through unaffected parts of our network to bring all customers affected back into supply and would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused while we worked to restore normal service.
“Traffic management is in place while repairs are carried out and, given the nature of the burst, it is possible work will need to continue into next week.
“We understand the disruption this will cause for local residents and commuters and will be doing all we can to complete repairs and reopen the road as soon as possible.”
Police were also called out to West Tullos Road to help deal with the incident and urged the public to avoid the area until the pipe had been repaired.
Local councillor Yvonne Allan said: “It is unfortunate that things like this happen. No-one likes it when our schools are closed and our children’s education disrupted.
“However this was unavoidable and outwith our control.”
Maureen Watt, SNP MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine said the road closure would cause disruption for commuters.
She said: “I was made aware of the burst water main early on Thursday morning and contacted Scottish Water immediately to understand the extent of the problem. They confirmed over 4,500 properties had been affected, as well as school closures for Walker Road Primary, Torry Academy and Abbotswell Primary.
“Scottish Water anticipate work is likely to continue until the middle of next week and I have asked to be updated as regularly as possible regarding this timeframe and any other issues which may arise from the broken water main itself.
“The road closure at West Tullos Road will be inconvenient for thousands of commuters and I have urged Scottish Water to do what they can to minimise disruption and work to open the road as soon as possible.”