Thames Water tells Surrey village not to drink tap water

[Pelican Press 0]

Thames Water tells Surrey village not to drink tap water

7 minutes ago

Amy Walker & Julia Gregory,BBC News, South East

BBC/Julia Gregory

Raymond Vincent bought bottled water as a “precautionary” measure

More than 600 households in a Surrey village have been warned not to drink tap water after tests carried out by Thames Water following a previous fuel *****.

The water company said it was issuing the advice as a precautionary measure for properties in Bramley, where there has been concerns over several months about the spill from a petrol station.

Thames Water said “concerning results” had been identified in three areas.

Bramley resident Helen Melia said: “It’s hugely inconvenient – hugely worrying.”

Tess Fayers, Thames Water’s regional operations director, told BBC Radio Surrey: “It is all linked to an issue with a fuel ***** which has been plaguing the town of Bramley for quite some time”.

The company is advising customers to avoid using tap water to brush teeth or prepare food, even after boiling.

But it said the water could be used for bathing, flushing toilets and in washing machines.

Water supply in the village “has been safe to drink up to this point”, the firm said.

Bottle banks have been set up outside Bramley library and at Artington Park-and-Ride.

Ms Melia said she had not received any bottled water from Thames Water, but had some in the house already to brush her teeth and make tea.

BBC/Julia Gregory

Thames Water said 616 homes had been given the advice as a precautionary measure

The alert comes amid an ongoing fuel ***** from

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station.

The Environment Agency said earlier this year it was continuing to investigate an “ongoing groundwater pollution incident in Bramley”.

The long-running issue has led businesses to say they have lost £100,000 due to the stench of fuel.

The firm is currently replacing a water pipe outside of the petrol station, with works set to last for about four weeks.

‘Horrible thing’

Thames Water has been regularly carrying out extra tests on water since October, but has recently ramped up efforts to about 12 a week.

Jane Austin, a ************* councillor on Waverley Borough Council (WBC), said the latest water warning was “just yet another horrible thing that’s happened to our village because of this fuel *****”.

She told BBC Radio Surrey: “We are so frustrated by what’s been thrown at us by something that’s completely… not of our choosing.”

Residents were visiting local shops to buy bottled water on Friday morning.

Catha Holt said she had been drinking only bottled water since the start of the year because of concerns about the water supply.

She added that the notice was “quite worrying for people”.

Raymond Vincent, who lives outside of the affected area in Bramley, said he had bought bottled water “because I’m taking a precaution”.

Steve Hardstone, landlord of the Jolly Farmer pub, said it had the only deep cellar in the high street, and the smell of fuel had “permeated the whole building”.

“It’s damaged us massively… We’ve had customers literally walk in and walk out again,” he added.

But the pub is not covered by the advisory notice, and Mr Hardstone said it would continue to use water “with some reservation” on Friday.

Results on Thursday indicated high levels of hydrocarbons – which are found in petrol, Thames Water said.

Ms Fayers added that it had “isolated” the issue and had retested the three locations which raised concerns, with results being processed at an independently-verified laboratory.

BBC/Julia Gregory

Steve Hardstone said the impact of the fuel ***** had been “devastating” for Bramley

WBC said it was working with Thames Water and other agencies to “mitigate the impact on residents”.

Earlier this month, thousands of people in Devon were told to boil their tap water before drinking it after a parasite outbreak was identified.

South West Water said the Hillhead reservoir and the wider Alston area was being investigated as a potential cause for the outbreak.

The number of confirmed cases of cryptosporidium has now reached 100,

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