RESIDENTS in Elphinstone were left without water for two days, while those in Tranent, Ormiston and Pencaitland were left with dirty and smelly water over the weekend.

In Elphinstone, problems began on Thursday, with residents reporting brown, sediment-filled water and then no water at all on what was one of the hottest days of the year.

Residents in Tranent and other neighbouring villages reported discoloured water; one Tranent resident even reported her water not smelling right.

Scottish Water said that it was repairing a burst water main in Haddington, with the pipe also affecting people in Elphinstone

Councillor Colin McGinn, who represents the Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry ward on East Lothian Council, pushed Scottish Water and East Lothian Council and asked for assistance for vulnerable people in the village.

Bottled water was supplied to residents from the village's Roots and Fruits.

Mike Falconer, vice-chair of Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council, headed up the local resilience effort during lockdown last year and helped organise and hand out the bottles to those who had requested them.

A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: “We carried out seven separate repairs to a 15-inch water pipe which serves the Elphinstone area.

“The first was carried out on Thursday evening and subsequent work took place over the weekend to restore supplies as quickly as possible.

“About 100 properties were out of supply for periods of time as a result of this and bottled water was delivered to customers who requested it.

“Water tankers were also deployed to help support the network.

“All customers would have been back in supply by Sunday morning and we did not receive any customer calls after this time to let us know of anyone still without supply.

“We apologise to customers for any inconvenience.”