LONDON (AP) — Most residents live near a picturesque fishing village in southwest England where a parasite got sick within the water More than 45 people were told Saturday they may safely drink the water again.
South West Water said it had lifted its boil water warning for a lot of the 17,000 affected homes and businesses within the Brixham area of Devon after Cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that causes diarrhoea, was present in the water.
At least 46 cases of cryptosporidiosis have been confirmed and greater than 100 other people reported similar symptoms, Britain's health regulator said. Symptoms can last more than two weeks.
The water utility said it consulted with public health officials before lifting the boil advisory for all but about 2,500 customers after rigorous testing showed the water was protected for a lot of the area.
“This situation has caused immense unrest, distress and fear. “We are truly sorry this happened,” said Laura Flowerdew, spokeswoman for the water utility. “The public rightly expects a safe, clean and reliable source of drinking water, and this time we have fallen well short of expectations.”
The outbreak announced on Wednesday had nothing to do with Britain's wider ongoing water problems but was emblematic of an aging system in distress.
The water supply corporations have been criticized for over a 12 months because they need to stop the frequent overflow of wastewater into rivers and seas. This has literally caused a stink, made swimmers sick, polluted fishing waters and led to an outcry from the general public who now finally want to alter their actions.
Flowerdew said Friday the outbreak could have come from a damaged air valve in a pipe that runs through a field where cows graze near a reservoir.
A primary school needed to close on Thursday since it didn’t have clean drinking water. The water company said it had provided 386,000 water bottles to its customers.
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