Most residents living near a scenic fishing village in southwestern England where a parasite in the water sickened more than 45 people were told Saturday that they could safely drink the water again.
South West Water said it lifted its boil notice for most of the 17,000 homes and businesses around the Brixham area of Devon that had been affected after cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that causes diarrhea, was found in the water.
At least 46 cases of cryptosporidiosis were confirmed and more than 100 other people reported similar symptoms, the U.K. Health Security Agency said. Symptoms can last more than two weeks.
The water company consulted with public health officials before lifting the boil warning for all but about 2,500 customers after rigorous testing showed the water was safe for most of the area. Flowerdew said on Friday that the outbreak may have come from a damaged air valve in a pipe that runs through a field where cows graze close to a reservoir.
This situation has caused an immense amount of disruption, distress, and anxiety. We are truly sorry this has happened, said Laura Flowerdew, a spokesperson for the water company. The public rightly expect a safe, clean, and reliable source of drinking water and on this occasion we have fallen significantly short of expectations.
A primary school was forced to close Thursday because it didn’t have clean drinking water. The water company provided 386,000 water bottles to its customers.
Water companies have been under fire for more than a year to stop frequent sewage overflows into rivers and oceans that have sickened swimmers, polluted fishing streams, and led to an outcry from the public. South West Water is facing charges for illegal water discharges or breaches of environmental permits between 2015 and 2021.
The outbreak announced Wednesday was unrelated to Britain’s larger ongoing water woes but emblematic of an aging system in distress.
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