Updated 8 July
South West Water has confirmed today (Monday 8 July) that they are able to lift the Boil Water Notice from all remaining customers in the Brixham area, impacted by cryptosporidium.
The Notice has now been lifted for customers in the Higher Brixham, Southdown, Upton Manor and St Mary’s supply zones, and it is now safe to drink your tap water as normal.
The decision was made in line with the principles agreed with public health partners, including the UK Health Security Agency and the local authority’s Environmental Health department.
For more information, visit the South West Water website.
Updated 26 June
South West Water (SWW) has announced that it is lifting the boil water notice today from properties in the Kingswear, Noss Marina, Hillhead Park and Raddicombe supply zones.
The boil water notice will need to remain in place for customers in the Summercombe, Chestnut Drive, Higher Brixham. Southdown, Upton Manor and St Mary’s supply areas as they are on a different part of the network.
In the areas where the boil water notice has been lifted, there are some steps customers need to follow before using their water as normal. SWW will be delivering leaflets today with all the information that is needed.
They will also be visiting customers on the Priority Services Register to provide additional support.
Their customer services teams are available if there are questions or concerns. There is also additional information on the SWW website.
If you would like to talk to someone in person, they will be at Kingswear Hall between 3pm and 6pm today (26th June) and tomorrow (27th June).
For more information, visit the SWW website.
Updated 17 June
South West Water are holding a drop-in session today, Monday 17 June, from 3pm to 7pm, at Kingswear Hall ( Main Hall), Fore Street, Kingswear, Devon, TQ6 0AD.
For more information, visit their webpage.
Updated 14 June
South West Water has today (Friday 14 June) lifted the boil water notice for 21 customers supplied off the Hillhead to Boohay main.
South West Water is still advising around 2,073 households in the wider Hillhead, upper Brixham and Kingswear areas to continue to boil their drinking water before consumption, as they are served by a separate system that continues to be flushed and cleaned to ensure the water is safe to drink.
For more information, visit South West Water’s situation update webpage.
Updated: 11 June
South West Water’s Community Van
South West Water’s community van is visiting Hillhead and Kingswear this week. Their team will be able to help with any concerns you may have following the Boil Water notice.
Their van will be at Hillhead Park, Kingswear, TQ5 0HG between 11am and 1pm, on Tuesday 11 June, Wednesday 12 Jun, Thursday 13 June, and Friday 14 June.
It will also be at ‘Banjo’, Fore Street, Kingswear, TQ^ 0SG between 2pm and 4pm on Tuesday 11 June, Wednesday 12 Jun, Thursday 13 June, and Friday 14 June.
For the latest updates from South West Water, visit their website.
Updated – 04/06/24
South West Water say that they are now delivering bottled water to all customers still under the boil water notice in the Hillhead, upper parts of Brixham and Kingswear areas. Deliveries will continue until the boil water notice is lifted. This includes customers on the Priority Services Register.
If you’re not at home and miss their delivery, bottled water can still be collected between 7am and 9pm from our water stations:
- Churston Car Boot Field, TQ5 0PG
- Broadsands Car Park, TQ4 6HX
- Freshwater Quarry Car Park, TQ5 8BA
David Harris, Incident Director at South West Water said: “Rigorous cleaning, regular sampling and the installation of cryptosporidium interventions to prevent future contamination has made good progress over the weekend.
“While this important and detailed work continues with our priority remaining the health of our customers, we remind people that it is important to continue to use water around their homes for washing, cleaning and flushing toilets. Smaller pipes in customer homes compared with our network means water moves through home plumbing at a much greater speed creating enough force to clean the pipes in homes. However, please ensure water is boiled before any consumption like drinking and brushing teeth.
“Our teams continue to work around the clock. Public health remains our absolute priority and we will only lift the boil water notice when we are confident it is safe to do so and our public health partners agree. We will continue to keep customers and businesses up to date with progress.”
South West Water’s Community Van
South West Water’s community van is visiting Hillhead and Kingswear this week. Their team will be able to help with any concerns you may have following the Boil Water notice.
It will be at ‘Banjo’, Fore Street, Kingswear, TQ6 0SG, on Tuesday 4 June, 2pm to 5pm; Wednesday 5 June, 2pm to 5pm; Thursday 6 June, 2pm to 5pm; and Friday 7 June, 2pm to 5pm.
For the latest updates from South West Water, visit their website.
Updated – 29/05/24
In the latest update from South West Water, David Harris (Incident Director), said:
“Over the past week we have cleaned our reservoirs and flushed the network several times in an attempt to remove the remaining traces of cryptosporidium. While our water quality samples are showing progress in recent days, further intense work is needed to fully remove any contamination.
“I am sorry this is taking time, but we need to be absolutely confident we have fixed this problem before we can safely lift the boil water notice.
“This morning, we have completed cleaning of the water mains after the Alston water supply area and leading into the Hillhead Supply Tank and fitted filters at the Boohay Supply Tank which will help prevent cryptosporidium entering the Kingswear part of the network. We are also undertaking a similar process to install filters at Hillhead Supply Tank over the coming days. We are also strengthening our interventions by putting ultraviolet light treatment at Hillhead this week which will also further prevent any future recurrence of this issue.
“Further aggressive scrubbing and cleaning of mains pipes is ongoing and our teams will continue to work around the clock until the job is done and we can safely lift the boil water notice.
“I want to reassure customers and businesses that we are doing everything we can to restore supply to the quality our customers expect and deserve and put interventions in place to prevent this from happening again.”
Last updated 24/05/24
In its latest statement published on their website, South West Water has apologised for the continued impact that the boil water notice is having on customers in the Hillhead, upper parts of Brixham and Kingswear areas.
South West Water is increasing the standard compensation for customers. Household customers still under a boil water notice will now receive £265 compensation in total.
You can read their latest statement on their website.
Drop-in sessions
South West Water has arranged a series of community pop-up events to help answer people’s questions face to face. They will have experts on hand who can answer questions about the water quality, networks, support for businessess and compensation claims, help for vulnerable customers, and provide public health information.
The events are on Tuesday 21 May, Wednesday 22 May, Thursday 23 May and Friday 24 May, held at Scala Hall, Brixham Town Hall, New Road, Brixham, TQ5 8TA.
To register to attend of these events, please visit the South West Water website.
South West Water (SWW) state on their website on Saturday (18 May):
“We have now reduced the number of customers impacted by the boil water notice in the Brixham area after water quality monitoring results confirm no traces of cryptosporidium in the Alston supply area. Properties in the Hillhead supply area are still subject to a boil water notice.”
Read their full update on their website.
To find out if your postcode is in the boil water notice area, visit the SWW website.
For those customers still impacted by the boil water notice in the Hillhead area, SWW is continuing to offer bottled water stations at:
- Freshwater Quarry Public Car Park (TQ5 8BA)
- Broadsands Car Park (TQ4 6HX)
- Churston Car Boot Sale Field (TQ4 7BQ).
Stations are open from 7am, closing each day at 9pm.
Vulnerable households are receiving deliveries of bottled water every 24 hours. Anyone who is vulnerable or on the Priority Services register and hasn’t yet received a delivery of bottled water can contact SWW directly on 0344 346 1010.
Meanwhile, Dr Lincoln Sargeant, Torbay’s Director of Public Health, has said:
“The Bay remains open for business. I know people have been concerned about visiting and whether it’s safe to be here. I would like to assure our residents and visitors that effective public health measures are in place to keep everyone safe. This outbreak has always been confined to a small part of the Bay, and that area is now smaller following the lifting of the boil water notice. We are supporting our local tourism and hospitality sector to operate safely and keep the Bay open for business.”
Dr Bayed Nozad, Consultant in Health Protection at the UK Health Security Agency asked last Friday:
“Please do not contact medical services to report cases unless you need urgent clinical care. If your symptoms last longer than 7 days, or if you experience more severe symptoms such as blood in your poo, please contact your doctor who may recommend taking a sample for testing.
“Those with symptoms should stay off nursery, school and work for 48hrs since the last episode of illness and anyone with diarrhoea should not go swimming for 14 days after the last episode of illness. This is really important to stop further spread of the illness from person to person.
“We also advise that people wash their hands thoroughly when handling food and after using the toilet, to help prevent the spread of further infection.
“Anyone with a diarrhoeal illness should drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration and if they have severe symptoms like bloody diarrhoea, they should contact NHS 111 or their GP surgery.”
Cryptosporidium is predominantly a waterborne disease, and infections can be caused by drinking contaminated water or swallowing contaminated water in pools or streams. It can also be acquired by animal or human contact.
Symptoms include watery diarrhoea, stomach pains, dehydration, weight loss, and fever. They can last for about two weeks, but can be longer, especially in people with weak immune systems. Anyone can get cryptosporidiosis, but it is most common in young children aged between 1 and 5 years and most people will recover fully.
What to do if you think you have symptoms
Do not contact medical services to report cases unless you need clinical care. For most people, cryptosporidium symptoms can be managed at home without needing medical advice. If your symptoms last longer than 7 days, or if you experience any more severe symptoms such as blood in your poo, please contact your doctor who may recommend taking a stool (poo) sample for testing.
You can also find hygiene advice and guidance about Cryptosporidium on the UKHSA website.
Do you need to stay off work?
Yes, you should not return to work or school or nursery until you have been free from diarrhoea and/or vomiting for 48 hours. While you are ill and have symptoms you are infectious. It is spread through animal-to-human or human-to-human contact.
You should tell your employer you have had diarrhoea and/or vomiting illness, especially if you work with vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the young, those in poor health, or if you handle food.
If your symptoms become severe or last longer than 7 days, you should contact NHS 111 or your GP.
Anyone suffering with a diarrhoeal illness should not swim for two weeks after their symptoms have stopped and, as always, it is important to shower immediately before entering and after leaving the swimming pool.
Find out more about Cryptosporidium
Get advice about diarrhoea and vomiting
Please see the boil notice from South West Water which provides further guidance and contact for further enquiries.
What is cryptosporidiosis?
Cryptosporidium is a parasite (a tiny organism) that causes an illness or disease called cryptosporidiosis affecting people and some animals, particularly farm animals.
Cryptosporidium parasites can be found in soil, water, food or on any surface that has been contaminated with human or animal faeces. It can be found in the intestines and faeces of infected humans and animals, and may contaminate lakes, streams and rivers, swimming pools, untreated or poorly treated water, food, especially raw milk and fresh produce, and objects such as farm gates and outdoor boots and clothing.
Symptoms of cryptosporidiosis are relatively mild but can be prolonged and include watery diarrhoea, stomach pains, dehydration, weight loss and fever which could last for up to three weeks. However, people with weak immune systems can be affected for longer periods. There is no specific treatment for the illness which is usually self-limiting. It is important that anyone with the illness keeps hydrated.
How do you treat cryptosporidiosis?
There is no specific treatment for cryptosporidiosis. Most people with a healthy immune system will recover within one month.
It is important to drink plenty of fluids as diarrhoea or vomiting can lead to dehydration and you can lose important sugars and minerals from your body. Your doctor may recommend a re-hydration solution, available from your pharmacist. If you feel sick, try taking small sips of fluid, frequently. Avoid alcohol.
A simple painkiller can help with abdominal cramps. Talk to your GP or pharmacist who can advise you on the most appropriate painkiller for you.