The incident occurred in Lancashire in August 2015. Routine tests by United Utilities found traces of Cryptosporidium at Franklaw water treatment works outside Preston, and properties in Blackpool, Chorley, Fylde, Preston, South Ribble and Wyre were affected.
Cryptosporidium is a parasite that can cause extreme diarrhoea, in the supply for about 300,000 homes, resulting in the residents having to boil their water for almost a month.
Cryptosporidium is highly dangerous for anyone with an impaired immune system such as those who are ill, the very young, and the elderly; symptoms of cryptosporidiosis can be severe and even life-threatening for them.
The outbreak caused a lot of disruption, to people’s lives and the public have been baying for answers ever since but nothing has been forthcoming from the DWI and patience is wearing thin now.
Fylde Conservative MP Mark Menzies said that the delay in publishing a report into how the water supplies of thousands of people were contaminated by a bug for a month is “unacceptable” and that trying to get an answer out of the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) was like “speaking to a brick wall.”
Mr Menzies said he was writing to Andrea Leadsom, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, urging her to “shed some light” on the delayed report.
The DWI has not been very forthcoming and refuses to be drawn – it said it would not comment until its investigation into the incident in Lancashire in August 2015 is completed.
Mr Menzies is querying the fact that the DWI has not yet provided answers and says that it should have the tools at its disposal to at least update the public yet has actually refused to comment and been rather arrogant on top of everything.
Householder Robert Willetts, from Warton, said that it is disappointing that nobody has heard any more about what caused the contamination as yet and that “As a consumer you assume that this couldn’t happen again, but it might be the wrong thing to assume.”
Gordon Marsden, Labour MP for Blackpool South, said: “I understand it might be difficult to find the problem, but I think United Utilities could be more open about what is preventing them coming to a definitive conclusion.”
A DWI spokeswoman said: “The Inspectorate remains very conscious of the level of interest in this investigation, but to avoid risks of prejudice or impediment to the course of justice, the publication of a report must follow the conclusion of this process.”
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