South West Water has now reduced the number of customers impacted by the boil water notice in the Brixham area after water quality monitoring results confirmed no traces of cryptosporidium in the Alston supply area.

The utility has today issued an updated statement confirming that this is now confined to around 2500 properties in the Hillhead supply area.

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

“Over 200 South West Water staff and our contractors are on the ground today working to urgently 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 have already identified a probable cause at Hillhead - a damaged air valve on private farmland - and are urgently investigating how this happened. The Hillhead reservoir has been successfully drained, thoroughly cleaned, and we will start refilling today. We will also start flushing the wider Hillhead network today, which is being continuously monitored 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.

“I want to again apologise for the immense disruption this is causing. This should not have happened, and I promise we will fix this problem as soon as possible.”

Yesterday the water company advised around 14,500 properties in the Alston supply area they no longer need to boil their drinking water. This followed several water quality monitoring results this week confirming no cryptosporidium. South West Water will continue daily water quality monitoring across the Hillhead and Alston supply areas.

David Harris continued:

“We know the profound impact this is having on families. Compensation has been increased to £215 - almost half the amount of an annual average bill - for those customers still subject to boil water advice in the Hillhead, upper Brixham and Kingswear areas. This payment will be made automatically where we have direct debit details or applied as a credit to their next water bill where we do not.

“We also know this situation is already having an impact on tourism ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend and stand ready to support our local traders and businesses. I urge affected businesses to contact our customer service team on 03332 343 293 so we can fast track any compensation claims.”

The dedicated helpline is for business customers to help them understand how the water company can support them, including questions relating to any compensation. Any claims will be fast tracked and reviewed on an individual basis. The line is open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

On Wednesday 15th May South West Water issued a boil water notice to around 17,000 households and businesses in the Alston and Hillhead supply areas, advising them not to use their tap water for drinking, eating or cleaning their teeth without boiling and cooling it first. This was the result of finding cryptosporidium in the Hillhead supply area in the early hours of Wednesday morning. A boil water notice was also issued to properties in the Alston supply area at this time as a necessary precaution.

Seven separate tests have now been undertaken by specialists in the Alston supply area, all of which have found no traces of cryptosporidium. A sixth sample has been independently analysed by a third-party laboratory today, also confirming no contamination.

Today’s decision to lift the boil water notice from customers in the Alston are was made in consultation with the UK Health Security Agency and the local authority’s Environmental Health Department.a