Two people in hospital from water bug outbreak
TWO people have been taken to hospital following a parasite outbreak in Brixham, Devon, Environment Secretary Steve Barclay confirmed yesterday.
In response to an urgent question on the contamination, Mr Barclay told the Commons the situation has caused “considerable concern and disruption to the local community”.
He added: “Today, UKHSA [UK Health Security Agency] have identified at least 46 confirmed cases of cryptosporidium, but, given symptoms may take up to 10 days to emerge, obviously that may continue to rise. Two people have been hospitalised.”
Daily testing of a local reservoir will continue for the foreseeable future, despite tests coming back clear, the
Environment Secretary added. Mr Barclay told the Commons: “Whilst 16,00 properties were initially subject to the boil notice, 85% of those, so 32,000 of the residents, 14,500 properties, who receive their water from the Alston reservoir have now had that boil notice lifted.
“Not only have all the tests on the Alston reservoir been clear, South West Water say that the posited test of the valve supports their contention that the most likely cause is down stream of that reservoir and if that is the case then those residents initially, the 85%, were never subject to any issues in terms of... water, but the boil notice applied on a precautionary basis. But, not withstanding that, I’m sure there will be ongoing concerns, so daily testing will continue of that water for the foreseeable future.
“On the Hillhead reservoir, this has now been drained, cleaned and refilled,” Mr Barclay added. “A flush of the network started this morning, aimed at removing traces of crypto detected in the system.
“We are working with South West Water and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, recognising the ongoing disruption to that remaining 15% of residents, and I know that South West Water will want to comply fully and in a timely fashion with the investigation of the Drinking Water Inspectorate.”
RESIDENTS and businesses in the Hillhead supply area of Brixham have been told they must carry on boiling their water, as South West Water (SWW) gave assurances that it is working around the clock to resolve the crisis caused by an outbreak of cryptosporidium.
The ‘probable’ cause of the outbreak was a damaged air valve on private land. The number of properties that were affected yesterday remained at around 2,500, and included upper parts of Brixham and Kingswear.
Residents in Ocean View Drive, Brixham, yesterday reported seeing water gushing down their road, as SWW emptied its supply system.
Hillhead reservoir, to the west of Brixham, has been drained and cleaned. The aim is to refill the reservoir so normal drinking water supply can resume as soon as possible.
Yesterday, SWW posted on social media that it had more than 200 staff and contractors on the ground to ‘urgently resolve the situation’.
In a press statement, David Harris, incident director at South West Water, said: “Our teams on the ground continue to work as quickly as we can to resolve the situation in the Hillhead supply area, where we are still advising around 2,500 properties to boil their drinking water before consuming.
“We are urgently investigating the damaged air valve on private land which we believe to be the probable cause, and following the draining and cleaning of Hillhead reservoir we have now refilled the largest of the two tanks within the reservoir and we have isolated the second tank.
“We are working 24 hours a day, and early this morning we commenced flushing of the wider Hillhead network as we work to eliminate any traces of cryptosporidium.
“We will not lift the boil water notice in Hillhead until we and our public health partners are completely satisfied it is safe to do so.
“Our bottled water stations in Broadsands, Freshwater Quarry and Churston remain open to customers across the Brixham area between 7am and 9pm daily.”
Initially, around 17,000 households and businesses in the area were served ‘boil water’ notices, after cryptosporidium was found in the water supply last Wednesday.
Cryptosporidium is a waterborne disease which can cause unpleasant
‘We have refilled the largest of the two tanks within the reservoir and isolated the second tank’
symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting. The latest data, published last Friday, by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said confirmed case numbers had reached 46.
On Saturday, SWW said 14,500 households could safely drink tap water again, after “rigorous testing” found no traces of the disease in the Alston water supply area. However, 28 properties were wrongly told they could stop boiling their water.
Some residents received a letter saying they could drink the tap water, only to get a separate message hours later advising them to keep boiling it. SWW later apologised and blamed an issue with its digital mapping system for the error. It is offering an extra £75 compensation to people given the wrong advice.
On the community Facebook page
Brixham (Fish Town), a resident affected by the blunder posted: “Late afternoon a leaflet was posted through our door saying water now OK to drink. Then about two hours later another leaflet posted stating water not safe to drink.
“Then a few minutes later, a SWW chappy knocked on the door saying water was definitely not safe and SWW were unsure who had posted the ‘safe to drink’ leaflet.”
Earlier yesterday, Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall, whose constituency includes Brixham, said he was encouraging residents to check their postcode on the SWW website to see if they are affected.
On his Facebook page, he said: “I am aware that some properties along the border of the Alston and Hillhead supply areas have received mixed messaging regarding whether their tap water is now safe to drink. If this is the case for you, please do double check your postcode on the South West Water website (below).
“You can also contact South West Water’s customer service team on 0344 346 2020, where they will manually check whether your address is affected. I am also in communication with South West Water about compensation and how this is to be paid to residents.”
Mr Mangnall added: “As you can imagine, I have had a great deal of communication about this issue which my team and I are continuing to work through.”
SWW says it has now handed out and delivered over half a million bottles of water since the start of the incident, including direct deliveries to vulnerable customers and schools, hospitals and care homes. Compensation has been increased to £215.
www.southwestwater.co.uk/ household/help-support/in-yourarea/service-updates