A primary school forced to shut its doors on Thursday due to a lack of water has reopened.

In an update on its website, Eden Park Primary & Nursery, in Brixham, says: "We have now received a water delivery which will allow us to provide limited water to all children throughout the day."

The school is also asking pupils to bring in their own bottled water.

A resident in the affected area in Brixham says he was "very ill" last week but South West Water was in "denial" about a potential problem.

Guy Highfield says he contacted the utility several days ago to report the incident but no immediate action was taken.

"It's just denial all the time," he says.

"Instead of saying 'OK, there might be a problem, let's have a look', it's 'no, it's not us, nothing to do with us, carry on drinking the water'."

The water company advised residents to boil their water on Wednesday after "enhanced" testing revealed "small traces" of cryptosporidium in part of its network.

Image source, Getty Images

Let's take a look now at another water story from elsewhere in the country.

The boss of Severn Trent has defended her multimillion-pound pay package despite sewage spills by the company rising by a third last year.

Liv Garfield was awarded £3.2m in pay, bonuses and shares last year, while over the past four years she has earned nearly £13m.

The company, which provides water to over eight million people across parts of the Midlands and Wales, was responsible for more than 60,000 sewage spills last year.

Garfield told the BBC the spills figure "doesn't make me feel good", but insisted the water company has made "massive progress on river quality".

A camping and holiday park in south Devon say some customers have raised concerns and cancelled over the contaminated water issue.

Arron Richardson, receptionist at Wall Park touring caravan campsite in Brixham, says the park was left without fresh water until Thursday night, and that customers got in touch saying it was "too risky" to visit.

South West Water has now delivered two pallets of bottled water to the site.

He also criticised the company for failing to communicate with them "properly".

SWW said it was providing information on its website and social media, and had a team answering calls.

Claire Flower, owner of Beverley Park Holidays in Paignton, says her site is lucky to be outside of the affected zone, but they still had a "nerve-racking" day of uncertainty earlier in the week.

She says they have been contacted by "anxious" customers asking if it's safe to visit but after "a lot of reassuring", they have not had any cancellations.

Image source, Ben Birchall/PA Wire

A third bottled water collection point has opened by South West Water (SWW) as the company faced mounting pressure from the public.

The water stations are at:

• Broadsands Car Park, TQ4 6HX
• Freshwater Quarry Car Park, TQ5 8BA
• Churston Car Boot Field, TQ4 7BQ

In a post on social media, external, the water company says the Churston collection point opened at 10:00 BST on Friday.

"Our team will be there and ready to meet you," it says.

About 16,000 homes and businesses have been served boil water notices by SWW.

Image source, Getty Images

A total of 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis were confirmed in the Brixham area by UK Health Security Agency on Wednesday, as South West Water said it believed a damaged air valve on a pipe in a field containing cattle was a potential source of entry for parasites.

So what is cryptosporidiosis?

Cryptosporidium is a tiny organism that causes an illness in people and some animals, health officials say.

It is found in human and animal poo and can contaminate waterways, swimming pools, raw milk and fresh produce, the UKHSA says.

Anyone can get infected and there is no effective drug treatment for cryptosporidiosis, with the main symptom being prolonged diarrhoea.

Prof Paul Hunter, a specialist in microbiology and infectious disease from the University of East Anglia, says most people recover after a couple of weeks but it can be deadly for a small number of people with severely weakened immune systems.

He says most people will not need to see a doctor unless they are seriously unwell or a child.

• You can read more here

South West Water has said customers affected by the contaminated water issue will be given a compensation payment of £115, and the amount will be kept under review.

But Michael Smith, co-owner of Venus café at Broadsands beach, says the current offer will not come close to matching their losses.

He says: “It will be thousands of times that. During the week at the minute we are not super busy, but we are losing £400 or £500 per day for the last couple of days.

"And come the weekend, with sunshine next and half-term the week after we are talking many thousands."

South West Water says it has set up a dedicated phone line, external for affected businesses.

Cases of cryptosporidium will be seen in the area for at least the next 10 days, a professor has said.

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia (UEA) said the parasite could be in the incubation period for up to two weeks.

He said: “One of the problems when you’re investigating outbreaks like this is that the incubation period can be about 10 days to two weeks, so often in the past when I’ve been involved in investigating outbreaks by the time you know you’ve got a problem, the problem has resolved itself anyway, but you can’t guarantee that.

“Even if they have stopped all new infections by now, you would expect to see further cases for at least 10 days to two weeks.”

Image source, UK Parliament

The boss of South West Water (SWW) said she was "truly sorry" for the incident which has impacted homes and businesses in the Brixham area.

CEO Susan Davy Davy said the company would "not stop working until the situation has been resolved".

"Our ground technicians have been working around the clock to identify the source of the contamination and rectify the situation so we can resume a normal water supply," she said.

"To those in the affected area and our customers across the South West, I am truly sorry for the disruption and wider anxiety this has caused.

"While incidents like these are thankfully very rare, our customers expect a safe, clean, and reliable source of drinking water."

About 16,000 homes residents have been served boil water notices by SWW.

Image source, Alamy

Welcome to our live coverage.

A faulty valve may have allowed a parasite to make its way into the water network in Brixham, south Devon, infecting hundreds of people, South West Water (SWW) has said.

Laura Flowerdew, SWW's chief customer officer, said it had identified a “damaged valve on part of our network which could be the cause”.

She said: “We’re doing further work to make sure we’re absolutely confident that’s the cause and the only cause.

“We’re working through operational procedures in the meantime. We’re also doing further sampling to make sure we’re really confident in that cause."

She said "public health is our absolute priority at this point so we’ll make sure that is fixed".

Stay with us as we bring you all the updates on this story.