Valuable resource is going down the drain

Enough water to fill 189 bath tubs will have trickled out of a leak in Lincoln city centre by the end of today.

Staff at women's clothes shop Ann Harvey, in St Benedict's Square, reported the leak two weeks ago.

Anglian Water has cordoned off the area and a sign reads "Anglian Water aware."

An Echo experiment discovered that it took just eight seconds for water trickling over block paving stones to reach the 100ml mark on a jug.

That equates to 1,080 litres over 24 hours and 15,120 litres over 14 days.

Given that it takes around 80 litres to fill a bath tub to the brim, enough water for 189 baths has merely run down a drain.

Customers have branded the leak a waste of water.

Tracy Hale (35), a sales assistant who lives in Sleaford, said people in the Third World would be grateful for a cup of water from the leak.

"If we were wasting this much water at home Anglian Water would be on to us straight away," she said.

Anglian Water has revealed the problem concerns a six inch cast iron main and work to repair it is due to be done overnight on Monday.

"In the grand scheme of things this is not a major leak even though it is generating interest from the public," said Anglian Water spokesman Dan Baker.

"There may well be a much larger leak which is not in view of the public, and we will without hesitation tackle that first, even though a smaller leak in a city centre will generate more interest."

For more on the leak, see Friday's Echo.