Work still needed before water parasite all-clear

South West Water drought and resilience director David Harris said more residual flushing work needed to be done

The man leading the response to a parasite outbreak in Devon said work still needed to be done despite "encouraging" test results.

South West Water (SWW) said 2,500 properties in the Hillhead area of Brixham remained under boil tap water notices after cryptosporidium was detected on 14 May.

David Harris, SWW's drought and resilience director, said it had had three days of clear tests at the tank for the affected area, but he cannot give a date when the boil water notice will be lifted.

The UK Health Security Agency said a further 20 confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis have been confirmed in Brixham, taking the total to 77.

South West Water still has boil water notices in place for about 2,500 properties in Brixham

Mr Harris said clear test results from the water network serviced by the Hillhead-Upper Brixham tank were "really encouraging news".

He said when the boil water notice for the Alston area was lifted on Saturday, it came after three days of clear tests.

But when asked if the notice for Hillhead would be removed over the weekend, Mr Harris said it would be "irresponsible" for him to give a date.

"What I have said - and we've been clear all the way along - this is a public health issue, we need to be certain that when we lift that boil water notice it's safe to do so," Mr Harris said.

"So we've said three clear days tank and network and we'll be good to go."

He added SWW needs to do more residual flushing work to ensure the entire network using the Hillhead-Upper Brixham tank is clear.

'I'll drink the water'

Local resident Bryan Freer said he would like to see someone from SWW drink a glass of tap water once the all-clear was given.

Mr Harris said he would drink a glass of tap water from a customer's house in the Hillhead area if it helped restore trust in SWW and the network.

"This is a public health issue, we are acting cautiously," he said.

"We will not lift that boil water notice until it is safe to do so and I will go drink water out of that tap no problem at all."

Bottled water is being handed out to people affected by boil water notices in Brixham