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Water company advises customers not to drink the tap water until further notice
Severn Trent has warned thousands of customers in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire not to use the tap water for drinking, preparing food or brushing teeth, following fears a burst water pipe has contaminated the supply in the area.
The company has apologised to residents and businesses affected by the problem, which was caused when a pipe burst near Burford at around 7pm on Friday (29 September). It has supplied around 160,000 litres of free bottled water across two sites to support customers.
A statement on Severn Trent’s website read: “We believe a small amount of floodwater may have got back into the pipe which meant we couldn’t guarantee the quality of the water.”
It continued: “Work to bring the pipe back into service is going really well but this might take a little while and, until it’s finished and until we’ve tested the water and that it’s back to its normal great quality, we’re continuing to advise people not to drink their water as a precaution.
“Our experts have been out and about sampling the water supply and, as soon as we get the all clear, we’ll let you know.”
“We’d just like to say how sorry we are that this has happened and can assure you we’re doing everything we can to get everything back to normal as quickly as possible,” the statement added.
Severn Trent has advised customers in the WR15 8 and SY8 4AU areas not to drink the water, while its continues to sample the supply.
However, it said the water can be used for bathing, showering and flushing the toilet.
Volunteers have been helping to hand out bottles of water at Tenbury Community Hospital and Tenbury Swimming Pool.
In a video on the company’s website updating residents, Wayne Earp, incident controller at Severn Trent, said: “A big thank you to the community, the response has been absolutely amazing. Our message remains the same, please do not drink the water.”
He added: “We’re working really hard and are on track with our plans. We need to ensure we sample the water over a period of at least two days to ensure it achieves the high quality that you demand and we provide for your drinking water.
“So, apologies again to everybody but please do bear with us and thank you again for your understanding.”
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