Water outbreak to last 'days' as locals fume over tapwater warning

20 May 2024 , 10:37

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Hundreds of people in Brixham, Devon, were wrongly told they could stop boiling their water while it still remained contaminated (Image: PA)

Anger is growing in Devon as 16,000 people have been told they will be without tap water for about another three days, following a parasitic outbreak in the water supply.

South West Water (SWW) put the boil notice in place on Wednesday after cryptosporidium - a parasite that causes a diarrhoea-like illness - was found in its supply network in the Brixham area. People in the Alston and Hillhead areas are being told to boil water before drinking it, brushing their teeth, or using it to prepare food.

So far 22 infections have been confirmed - with many more people reporting cryptosporidium symptoms. One woman in her 80s has has been hospitalised for two weeks after drinking water containing cryptosporidium, it has been claimed.

Medics were initially stumped by Elaine Hollier's condition until South West Water confirmed an outbreak of the parasite had been found in an underground reservoir that serves their home. Her husband of 60 years Dennis Hollier said she was “in an absolutely diabolical state”.

Water supplies have been given out to residents in Brixham, Devon, after their water supplies were hit by a nasty vomiting bug (Chris Slack)

Meanwhile, SWW has come under further criticism after delivering notices to a number of houses wrongly informing them their water was now safe to drink. The firm lifted a boil notice on Saturday for 14,500 households in the area, although 2,500 properties in the areas of Hillhead, Kingswear and Brixham were told they needed to still boil theirs.

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SWW fell foul after some residents in the still-afflicted parts were sent the wrong letter saying the water was now safe to drink, only to get another in quick succession saying otherwise. The company blamed an issue with its digital mapping system while hand-delivering the notices - and has now offered £75 compensation to consumers. It said 28 properties were affected.

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Local Tory MP Anthony Mangnall, who has previously said "heads will roll" for the fiasco, has blasted the error saying the wrong notices were another sign of their poor communication. SWW has been blasted for what residents said was a lack of information from the firm as they waited to find out what to do.

One local B&B owner said he had heard nothing from the company after receiving £1,000 worth of cancellations following news of the contamination. Many local residents are not risking using the tap water "for a while" because they fear being struck down with the vomiting and diarrhoea illness. There have been 46 confirmed cases of cryptosporidium and around 100 other people believe they have symptoms.

Thousands of homes and businesses in Devon were told not to drink water from their taps without boiling it (PA)

Shop worker Jemma Michaels, 28, said: “It’s absolute chaos in the town, I can’t buy a single bottle of water, people can’t shower or wash their hands. It’s like third-world conditions here.

“I think it’s disgusting that we weren’t told about this until yesterday, so many people in the town are ill. This town relies on tourism but restaurants and hotels are having bookings cancelled because people don’t want to come here and get sick, it’s disgraceful.”

One local, James Martins, said: “We have been ill for weeks with vomiting, diarrhoea and headaches. We are still feeling bad on and off. My understanding is it will be days or weeks before the reservoir is fully drained and in the meantime we have to boil our water.

“It has not been handled well by South West Water but all the staff we have dealt with have been wonderful, I think it’s higher up the chain where the problems are.” MP Mr Mangnall said the boil water notice was likely to be in place for "at least a further six or seven days", with bottled water available throughout this period.

Many residents will have to keep using bottled water or bail tap water for up to a week, the Totnes MP said (PA)

It comes as The Mirror revealed at the weekend that SWW has previously been fined 18 times, paying out nearly £5million, for pollution over the past 10 years. Often called one of the UK’s worst polluters, it is owned by Pennon Group, run by £4million-a-year Susan Davy. She has apologised and vowed the company will “not stop working until the situation has been resolved.”

A SWW spokesperson said on Monday: "Following our announcement yesterday that we were reducing the boil water notice area in Brixham, we hand delivered notices to all customers to let them know of the changes and to confirm whether or not they were still in the affected area.

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"Unfortunately, a very small number of customers did receive two notices with conflicting information. This was caused due to a technical issue with our digital mapping system. We also had a small number of customers in a localised area who, in error, received the wrong notice advising them that their property was no longer covered by the notice.

"We have been contacting those customers and carrying out visits to their properties to clarify their situation and provide the correct guidance. We are sorry about this, and those customers will be receiving an additional £75 in compensation in recognition of the confusion caused."

Adam Aspinall