People living on Fountainwell Road and Fountainwell Gardens in Glasgow’s Sighthill area have had no reliable water supply for five months now. The trouble started on Christmas Day 2024 and just keeps coming back,, leaving neighbours unable to make a brew, wash up, or even flush the toilet. A broken pump under Wheatley Homes’ responsibility has been blamed, and frankly, locals have had enough.
- Water supply failures on Fountainwell Road and Fountainwell Gardens in Sighthill have been ongoing since Christmas Day 2024
- A faulty pump managed by Wheatley Homes has been blamed for the disruptions
- At least four outages have hit over Christmas, January, and twice in April 2025
- Residents say outages have dragged on for hours; one Wheatley letter even apologised for a nine-hour delay
- Scottish Water says its network is running fine the problem sits with Wheatley’s privately operated pump
- Wheatley Homes has handed out bottled water and pledged to upgrade the pump
What Is Happening on Fountainwell Road?
Since December 2024, the water has cut out at least four times across these two Sighthill streets and for the people living there, the pattern is getting old fast.
| Incident | When |
|---|---|
| First outage | Christmas Day 2024 |
| Second outage | January 2025 |
| Third outage | April 2025 |
| Fourth outage | April 2025 |
And it’s never a quick fix each time it goes, residents are sitting without running water for hours, usually with zero warning beforehand.
What Is Causing the Problem?
The culprit, it seems, is a water pump on Fountainwell Road. Wheatley Homes, the housing association responsible for properties on the street, owns and runs that pump. Scottish Water has been pretty clear that this one isn’t on them. A spokesperson said: “We believe this issue is down to the failure of pumps that are not owned or operated by Scottish Water. On each occasion of these reports, we have attended and found our Scottish Water network is pressurised at the nearby hydrant.”
Both organisations have infrastructure in Sighthill, and that overlap has left residents genuinely unsure who to call when the taps run dry.
What Residents Are Saying
Elaine Ellis has called the situation unacceptable, and after ten years on the street, she’s seen enough to know this isn’t normal. Speaking to BBC Scotland News, her frustration was clear, especially with young families caught in the middle.
“We’ve got people with babies and young children here, and we don’t know if this will keep happening again and again.”
She’s not asking for anything extraordinary either.
“Expecting clean water is a fairly basic requirement. I want to make a cup of tea or wash my hands when I get home from work. The last time it happened I was halfway through dyeing my hair, so that was a nightmare.”
Ellis says some outages have gone on for several hours. Wheatley Homes disputes that, but a letter from the company seen by BBC Scotland actually apologised for a nine-hour delay, which sits awkwardly alongside their public stance.
May Bishop, 76, has found the whole thing exhausting, especially when it hits late at night with no heads-up. “Last time it was half past 11 at night with no warning or anything. I was going for a hot chocolate and there was nothing.”
She’s also fed up with the runaround when trying to report it. “You phone up, and you get told to check Scottish Water first. You’ll check there and be told to go back to Wheatley.”
Sighthill – A Regeneration Area Still Feeling Forgotten?
Sighthill has had serious money thrown at it by Glasgow City Council, with over 1,000 new homes built in the area in recent years. But for some of the people actually living there, shiny new buildings haven’t meant reliable basics.
Ellis put it plainly to BBC Scotland News: “Sighthill is a great area, but whenever there’s a problem it always feels like things would be fixed a lot quicker if it were a nice, middle-class part of Glasgow.”
It’s a feeling a lot of working-class communities across Scotland would recognise that where you live quietly determines how quickly your problems get sorted.
What Wheatley Homes Has Said
Wheatley Homes has put its hands up and apologised, saying a fix is in the works. A spokesperson said:
“We’re very sorry for the disruption caused by issues with the water supply. As soon as we learned about these issues, our teams worked to fix the pump and gave bottled water to households that needed it. We’re working to upgrade the pump so there are no more disruptions.“
They’ve also promised to write to residents directly, spelling out exactly what steps are being taken.
Five months of water failures is too much, and the people on Fountainwell Road and Fountainwell Gardens deserve one simple thing – water when they turn the tap. Wheatley Homes has promised an upgrade. For the families, the elderly residents, and everyone else caught up in this, it needs to happen now.
FAQ’s
Q. When did the water problems on Fountainwell Road start?
The first outage hit on Christmas Day 2024. At least three more followed in January and April 2025.
Q. Who is responsible for fixing the issue?
Wheatley Homes owns the pump causing the failures. Scottish Water has confirmed its own network is working fine.
Q. How long have outages lasted?
Residents say several hours each time. A letter from Wheatley Homes apologised for one outage that lasted nine hours.
Q. Has Wheatley Homes apologised?
Yes, they apologised publicly, handed out bottled water, and committed to upgrading the pump.
Sources & References
- AOL News: The Glasgow streets blighted by water problems since Christmas
- Yahoo News Canada: The Glasgow streets blighted by water problems since Christmas
- BBC Scotland News: The Glasgow streets blighted by water problems since Christmas
