Rare low temperatures following 3-days of the heaviest snowfall in sixteen years, froze and broke a water main as well as hundreds of water meters in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province.

The local newspaper Changjiang Times reports that thousands of local residents are now left with difficulty in accessing clean drinking water.

Residents clear ice away from a broken water meter leak in a living compound in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on January 16, 2008.

The 1.2-meter-diameter water main cracked on Tuesday morning prompting more than 70 plumbers to rush in for repairs. Deterred by the bad weather, the repair work was still underway on Wednesday night.

Three pumps from the local fire service were being used to supply 140-tons of water to residents in the affected areas for their daily use.

Water leaks in other areas of the city were also causing problems. Requests for repairs to water pipes, meters and other facilities jammed the phone lines at the water authority. The Hankou Branch of the Water Supply Company alone received 588 calls on Tuesday.

Water officials say 40% of the city's supply network was built two to three decades earlier and can not stand up to the extreme weather and will gradually be modernized in the future.

(CRI January 17, 2008)