Disgusting dark brown water forces apology
Scottish Water have apologised after a Lanarkshire woman was assured her water was ‘safe to drink’ – despite it being a disgusting dark brown colour.
The water board later did a U-turn and supplied bottled water to Karen Reynolds, from Westwood, after a glass of water looked more like a dark coffee than the clear stuff.
It comes after Scottish Water shared a post on their social media explaining that high levels of manganese were causing a discolouration of water in several areas across Lanarkshire served by the Daer Water Treatment Works near Biggar.
They now say while this has improved for the vast majority of customers affected, some households are still experiencing issues.
But Karen slammed the disgusting brown water coming from her taps.
She said: “Scottish Water board assured me at first this was safe to drink and initially said they weren’t sending us out any water. My neighbours all have same problem. How is this possibly deemed as acceptable?
“They finally gave in on Friday night and delivered water after taking samples. Although it has improved in colour the quality still isn’t great.”
A spokesman for Scottish Water said: “We have taken samples from the property and given the customer bottled water and will provide further support if required.
“The discolouration, which was caused by manganese and is linked to the record low rainfall and reservoir levels for this time of year, has affected some properties in parts of Lanarkshire.
“It has improved for the vast majority of affected customers and we are working round-the-clock to resolve the issue for a small number of customers still affected.
“The water network which serves the area has more than 1980 miles of water mains and so, for some people, the improvements take longer to push through the system.
“We have a rigorous sampling and testing programme in place and would remind those customers still affected that, while their water might not look normal yet, it can be used as normal for drinking, cooking, bathing and showering.
“We are continuing to liaise with the Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) and NHS Lanarkshire on this matter and the consultant in Public Health Medicine at NHS Lanarkshire said last Friday that the water was safe to use as normal.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and thank those customers still affected for their patience and understanding while we work to resolve this matter for them as soon as possible.
“If any customers require additional support, we ask that they make contact via one of the methods on our Contact Us page.”