A WATER company is being investigated by a regulator after a water supply issue caused thousands of Darlington residents to boil their water before drinking it last week.

Northumbrian Water said a technical fault at Broken Scar Treatment Works “which was quickly fixed” on February 1 led it to issue a temporary boil water notice as a precaution.

Around 31,00 homes were affected by the issue and people have criticised a lack of duty of care to the public having not responded to the emergency in a timely and safe manner

People have also reported sickness after drinking the water due to a lack of information from the company.

Read more: Northumbrian Water response to Darlington fault 'shambolic'

Yet Northumbrian Water said it notified the Drinking Water Inspectorate, a regulator, “immediately” when the incident happened, and it was resolved within two days after water quality tests at various locations on the water networks found it had passed “strict safety tests”.  

A fault with a valve at Broken Scar Treatment works allowed a small amount of water into the networks that had not been fully disinfected.

The Northern Echo: The water warning issued. Picture: Northumbrian WaterThe water warning issued. Picture: Northumbrian Water

Jennifer Hesford, from Sadberge, said: “I was never informed about it. Fortunately, a friend thought to pass on the information the following day, by which time I had already drunk quite a bit of tap water.

"Not everyone is on Facebook. Why did Northumbrian Water not use our email addresses to send such important information? It’s very concerning.

And Robert Campbell, from Eastbourne, questioned whether there has been an issue with the water supply before the issue was identified.

He said: “I know they’ve told us there is a problem today, but is that true and how long has that been a problem? I’ve had an upset stomach for six weeks, I drink a lot of water all the test from the GP surgery come back negative because they didn’t know what was wrong with me.

“My thoughts is this is what is making me ill, and there has been issue with the water for longer than just this day and we’ve only just found out about this issue today.”

Supermarkets in the town reportedly sold out of bottled water after residents raided the shelves after the notice was issued – but some reported drinking up to “5 pints of water” prior to being informed about the issue.

 

Northumbrian Water defended its response as representatives from the water company posted warning leaflets through the doors of hundreds of Darlington homes.

Residents received an amber leaflet when the boil notice was in place and a green leaflet when the warning had cleared. And it said 65,000 bottles of water were handed out to ‘priority service’ customers, including schools and nursing homes.

 

One woman, who did not give her name, added: “We haven’t been that well after drinking the water last week. We haven’t been 100 per cent since then and I’m feeling really wiped out – it’s not great.

“I am thinking of people who are elderly or very vulnerable who are not on the Internet or didn’t get a leaflet. It was about 17 hours after the issue started that we got a leaflet.

“For people who are disabled and vulnerable it’s very difficult for them.

“There’s a lot of silent people out there who are annoyed and don’t know how to voice their concerns.

“They’ve really failed us.”

 

Read more: Northumbrian Water won't compensate Darlington residents

The Drinking Water Inspectorate told The Northern Echo it is investigating how the issue occurred and is inviting residents to feedback their experiences.

A statement read: “We are conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the event that occurred at Broken Scar treatment works.

“The Inspectorate was notified of the event on 1 February. Northumbrian Water has kept the Inspectorate informed as the event progressed and the precautionary Boil Water Notice was issued.

“We have asked the company to provide us with further information related to this matter to support our formal investigations into the incident.

“This is now an ongoing investigation and therefore we are not able to answer specific questions about the event. However, as part of our event investigation we are conducting a series of consumer questionnaires which will support our assessment.”

The Northern Echo: A map shows the areas that were affected by the issue. Picture: Northumbrian WaterA map shows the areas that were affected by the issue. Picture: Northumbrian Water

The affected postcode areas were:

DL1 – 1,2,3,4,5

DL2 – 1,2 

DL3 – 0,6,7,8,9

Responding to notice of the investigation, a Northumbrian Water spokesman said: “We notified the drinking water inspectorate immediately when this happened and we will now support them to fully review the issues surrounding last week’s precautionary boil notice in Darlington, as is standard practice after any incident of this nature. “

Darlington councillors criticised the reaction to the "significant public health risk" at a public meeting last week, describing it as disappointing and gravely concerning.

A Darlington Borough Council spokesman added: “We note with interest the Drinking Water Inspectorate’s decision to investigate this incident, and we will feed into that process in due course."

The Northern Echo: Broken Scar Water Treatment works. Picture: The Northern EchoBroken Scar Water Treatment works. Picture: The Northern Echo

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