Update: South West Water statement on Alston and Hillhead supply areas

SWW have set up water collection points at Fresh Water Quarry Public Car Park, Broadsands Car Park & Churston Car Boot Sale Field, which are open over the weekend, & our ground teams have been working hard, delivering over 386,000 bottles of water so far

David Harris, Drought and Resilience Director at South West Water said: 

"Our overriding priority must be the health and safety of our customers. Over the past four days, we have been working tirelessly to identify and resolve this issue. We are deeply sorry for the impact this disruption is having on daily lives.

“We have set up water collection points at Fresh Water Quarry Public Car Park (TQ5 8BA), Broadsands Car Park (TQ4 6HX) and Churston Car Boot Sale Field (TQ4 7BQ), which are open over the weekend, and our ground teams have been working hard, delivering over 386,000 bottles of water so far.

“To support customers while we continue to resolve this issue, our compensation payment has been increased to £115. This payment will be made automatically where we have direct debit details or applied as a credit to customers’ next water bill where we do not. Customers do not need to take any action.

“As part of our ongoing investigation, a damaged valve on private land has been identified as the possible cause, which has since been isolated from the network and repaired. As you would expect, we are urgently investigating how this happened, while working to rule out any other possible sources of contamination elsewhere in the network.

“The water tank at Hillhead reservoir, where tests confirmed the presence of cryptosporidium earlier this week, was drained overnight and will be thoroughly cleaned today. Once complete, we will start refilling the water tank later today. Officials from the Drinking Water Inspectorate are also on site to monitor progress, and daily testing continues to take place at points throughout our network.

“We want to reassure customers and businesses that we will only lift the boil water notices when it is absolutely safe to do so.”

Background

• Details on our increased compensation payments can be found here - South West Water is increasing its compensation to customers in the Brixham area following the detection of cryptosporidium
• If any customers are unsure whether they are in the affected areas, they can check on South West Water’s postcode checker at - https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/household/help-support/in-your-area/service-updates
• We ask that customers informed of the notice do not drink tap water without first boiling it and allowing it to cool.
• This should also be done for preparing or cooking food or cleaning teeth. Boiled water can be stored in a covered container in the fridge for 24 hours.
• Water can continue to be used as normal for washing, bathing and toilet flushing.
• Cryptosporidium can cause sickness and diarrhoea if consumed – drinking water can become contaminated due to various reasons, but we are fully investigating the cause. If people have consumed the water and feel unwell, they should follow the advice on UKHSA's website here: www.gov.uk/guidance/cryptosporidium-public-advice
• Boil water notices are being hand delivered to affected customers and the postcodes impacted by the notice are listed on our website.