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Tap water scare in Pamber Heath
Tap water scare in Pamber Heath
Sat, September 22 2007

Residents told not to drink or wash with tap water after complaints it tasted of petrol
 

PAMBER Heath residents were given emergency supplies of bottled water after their tap water was discovered to be contaminated with petrochemicals.
By early afternoon today (Saturday), 764 houses were without safe water and were relying on supplies brought in by Thames Water.
The water company first received a complaint about the taste of the water at 4.30pm yesterday afternoon (Friday).
When the company received a third complaint at 6pm, Thames Water declared that the water supply in the village was unsafe.
At 8.30pm Thames Water company staff started distributing leaflets around the village warning people not to use the contaminated water for anything but flushing their toilets.
Cases of fresh bottled water were also distributed around Pamber Heath.
Thames Water engineers have spent the day trying to identify the problem, and scientists believe that one of the water pipes has been contaminated.
Thames Water spokeswoman Hilary Bennett said: “After we received the telephone calls from customers on Friday evening we took the decision to declare the water unsafe.
“Our scientists took samples of the local water supply and found a low level amount of petrol in the pipes. Once we have identified the problem the pipes will be flushed out with fresh water.
“There was some mains flushing taking place during the week. O

 

This has had a devastating impact on the pub as we cannot serve food, and we were expecting to have a busy weekend

Pub landlord Dan Saunders
bviously we can’t speculate at this stage if the two are linked. Obviously it is one avenue we are investigating.”
The landlord of the Pelican pub Dan Saunders said: “This incident has had a terrible effect on the whole village. People have been coming in all morning to pick up their bottled water.
“There has been some panic with some residents wanting to take several cases of mineral water. This has had a devastating impact on the pub as we cannot serve food, and we were expecting to have a busy weekend.”
And Pamber Heath Road resident Abigail Tanguay said it was a worrying time, particularly as she had to look after her five-year-old daughter Shannon.
She said: “We cannot cook and I hope that the situation can be sorted out in the next few days.”

Residents on the following streets have been told not to use tap water:

Jubilee Close
Pamber Heath Road
Church Road
Valley Way
Oakfield Road
Springfield Road
Clapps Gate Road
Knollys Road
Erksin Close
Impstone Road
Romans Gate
The Glyn
Eastlyn Road
Westlyn Road
Burney Bit
Pelican Way
Spencers Close
Ibex Close
Stroud Close
Heath Road
Southern end of Silchester Road

If any elderly or disabled residents need help getting fresh water, they should contact Thames Water customer care line on 0845 92 00 800.

 
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