Cambridge water contamination cause 'still to be established'
- Published
There have been no reports of sickness at a housing development despite concerns its water is contaminated, government inspectors have said.
Residents at the Marleigh development near Cambridge have been without drinking water for nearly a week.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said there were no reports of anyone becoming unwell.
The local water firm, meanwhile, said the cause of the contamination was "still to be established".
On Thursday, Independent Water Networks (IWN) said about 320 homes were affected and bottled water was handed out for everything other than flushing toilets.
The company on Monday said water could once again be used, but not for drinking.
"This is normal practice as a precautionary measure whilst sampling and testing is undertaken by the water company," said Sultan Salimee, consultant in health protection at the UKHSA East of England.
"There have been no reports of anyone becoming unwell."
He said IWN has kept the agency up to date with test results from recent water samples.
John Trounson, group managing director for IWN, said the "final determination of what caused the contamination has still to be established".
"We continue to work with the UKHSA in light of the continuing lab-test results to identify what the contaminant might be and when we can sound the all clear," he said.
Mr Trounson said residents would continue to be supplied with bottled water and said "progress has been made in the testing of the water".
Marleigh resident Ravi Bhide told the BBC: "It's not too bad but it's mainly [been] when you want to use water for bathing, for washing pots; that's been difficult, because if you can't wash your dishes for two and half days, it's just impossible."
Last year, residents on the Hartwell Estate near Hartlepool, County Durham, said workers dug up their gardens when IWN investigated a contamination.
The water company told the BBC that it "sees no parallels" with what happened in Hartlepool and on the Marleigh estate.
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