Boil water notice is lifted in the Kingswear, Noss Marina, Hillhead Park and Raddicombe supply zones

Following weeks of intensive work and monitoring, the network has returned to normal, and water supplies now meet the high standards our customers expect.

Boil water notice is lifted for customers in the Kingswear, Noss Marina, Hillhead Park and Raddicombe supply zones

David Harris, Incident Director at South West Water, said: “We are today lifting the boil water notice for properties in the Kingswear, Noss Marina, Hillhead Park and Raddicombe supply zones. 

Following weeks of intensive work and monitoring, the network has returned to normal, and water supplies now meet the high standards our customers expect.

The boil water notice will remain in place for customers in the Summercombe, Chestnut Drive , Higher Brixham, Southdown, Upton Manor and St Mary's supply areas as they are on a different part of the network. We are still working in these areas to return the water to normal and will continue to communicate with these customers to keep them up to date. 

Since this event began, we have identified, removed and replaced the source of the contamination, a damaged air valve casing on private land. We have also thoroughly cleaned our network, using advanced techniques, and added a double layer of protection using ultraviolet treatment and specialist microfilters to provide additional barriers. Hundreds of South West Water network technicians, engineers, water quality scientists and contractors have worked day and night over many weeks to fix this issue.

Our extreme efforts have worked - testing by independent experts along with our scientists confirmed the effectiveness of our interventions. Compared to similar incidents globally, where resolutions took significantly longer, our intensive work has allowed us to lift the boil water notices within weeks. 

We have reviewed global cases and implemented the best solutions with expert guidance and interventions working with key external partners, enabling us to clear the issue and lift the boil water notices for properties in Kingswear, Noss Marina, Hillhead Park and Raddicombe supply zones today. This decision highlights the importance we have placed on restoring normalcy, methodically and carefully to ensure water supplies meet the high standards our customers expect. 

Today’s decision to lift the boil water notices for these properties was made in line with the principles agreed with public health partners, including the UK Health Security Agency and the local authority's Environmental Health department.

We want to thank our customers, visitors, and local businesses who remain on boil water notices for their continued patience throughout this rare and challenging situation and we are confident that we will be able to announce the next phases of lifting soon.”