Anger continues over water parasite outbreak

Jan Heather said she called an ambulance to take her husband Howard to hospital after he fell ill with severe cryptosporidium symptoms

Three weeks after a water parasite outbreak was identified in part of south Devon, residents say they are frustrated the situation has still not been resolved.

About 2,500 households in Hillhead, Upper Brixham and Kingswear remain affected by a boil water notice issued by South West Water (SWW).

The company said it was '"very sorry for the disruption", adding it was "working day and night to get this resolved".

A 69-year-old man who said he was treated in hospital after falling ill from cryptosporidium said: "It’s going to take a long time for the trust to return."

'Totally preventable'

The waterborne parasite causes prolonged diarrhoea and sickness, and is believed to have been caused by a damaged air valve on private land.

There have been 100 confirmed cases, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Upper Brixham resident Howard Heather was taken to Torbay Hospital after becoming unwell at the beginning of May.

He said: “I did feel rough. The diarrhoea and vomiting was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, really violent.

"It’s such an awful bug and it takes a while to get over”.

The former factory worker, who also has type 2 diabetes, said his illness had been confirmed as a case of cryptosporidium.

“I’m aggrieved by it and I think it was totally preventable. So, my feelings towards South West Water are quite negative," he said.

'Just horrible'

His wife Jan Heather said it was "just horrible”.

The domiciliary care worker came home to find her husband "very distressed" and vomiting.

She said: "When you see someone you love in such a terrible state and suffering, it was just awful.

"I think it’s disgusting that this sort of thing can happen in this day and age. You’d think in this country you would be safe to drink the water."

South West Water is continuing to flush out the residual contamination

Jessica Wallis said the last three weeks had been “a total nightmare” due to the outbreak.

The mother-of-one, who is pregnant with her second child, said: "I’ve had to have time off work. My daughter has been ill as well.

"It’s been an up and down rollercoaster."

Upper Brixham resident Ivan Lawrence said he was completely appalled by South West Water's response

Ivan Lawrence said he was unhappy at how long the boil water notice had been in place.

The resident of Upper Brixham said: "Water is so important to our quality of life and to be going on for nearly three weeks now and in a situation that seems to be totally crisis managed.

"They have been very good at delivering bottles of water and giving notifications but we haven’t heard from the company's chief executive so myself and others in the area are completely appalled by how South West Water have handled it."

Josie Byrne said she did not want to use the water

Josy Byrne who runs Kingswear Post Office said she "got sick" from cryptosporidium on 10 April and "it keeps coming back".

Speaking to BBC Radio Devon, she said: "People are frustrated and don't trust South West Water anymore.

"I don't want to use the water."

The postmistress said she wanted the company to "tell us exactly what they're doing and why they're doing it".

'Very sorry'

In a statement, SWW said: "We appreciate this is taking time to complete and we are very sorry for the disruption and concern this is causing – however, please be assured that our teams are working day and night to get this resolved.

"This level of complex and detailed operational work will continue until we are completely confident that it is safe to remove the boil water notice."

The company said it had now completed the latest stage of flushing on the Hillhead network "to remove any last residual cryptosporidium across the area".

It added it has put "multiple interventions in place" to "protect the network".

The BBC has requested an interview with the chief executive Susan Davy.