English fishing village told to boil water after parasite outbreak sickens more than 45 people

LONDON – A picturesque fishing village in southwest England was told to boil its tap water for a third day on Friday after a parasite sickened more than 45 people, in the latest example of Britain’s troubled water system.

Around 16,000 homes and businesses in the Brixham area of ​​Devon have been told to boil water after cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that causes diarrhoea, was found in the water. At least 46 cases of cryptosporidiosis have been confirmed and more than 100 other people have reported similar symptoms, the UK’s Health Security Agency said. Symptoms can last more than two weeks.

Sally Dart, who runs a household goods store near Brixham port, said people in the town started feeling unwell two weeks ago during a pirate festival.

“Nobody was checking the water quality and we all got sick and that’s stupid,” she said.

South West Water chief executive Susan Davy apologized for the outbreak and said technicians were working around the clock to identify and resolve the problem which may have arisen from a pipe in a cattle pasture.

“I sincerely regret the disruption and wider anxiety this has caused,” Davy said. “I know that on this occasion we fell significantly short of what you expect of us.”

The crisis is not related to Britain’s larger water problems, but is emblematic of an aging and struggling system.

Water companies have been under pressure for more than a year to stop frequent sewage overflows into rivers and oceans that have literally caused stench, sickened swimmers, polluted fishing streams and led to public protests to clean up their act.

An environmental group reported this week that 70,000 sewage discharges spilled over a total of 400,000 hours along the coast of England last year. More than a quarter of them were within 2 miles of a swimming spot, Friends of the Earth said in its analysis of government data.

Clean water advocates have blamed the problems on Britain’s privatization of the water system in 1989. They say companies put shareholders ahead of customers and did not spend enough to update outdated plumbing systems.

Thames Water, the largest of the companies, is on the brink of insolvency and its leaders have said it faces the risk of being nationalized after shareholders refused to inject more money.

Earlier this week, in another sign of trouble, millions of gallons of raw sewage were pumped into England’s largest lake. After a glitch caused pumps to fail, backup systems pumped human waste into Lake Windermere, a UNESCO World Heritage site, for 10 hours, the BBC reported.

The cryptosporidiosis outbreak is not the first time South West Water has encountered problems, according to authorities.

The company faces charges at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court alleging 30 offenses for illegal water discharges or breaches of environmental licenses between 2015 and 2021, the Environment Agency said.

The recent outbreak appears to come from a damaged air valve in a pipe running through a field where cows graze, near a reservoir, said Laura Flowerdew, a spokeswoman for Southwest.

With news of the outbreak, Dart said his business is down by about a third and other merchants have complained about lost income as warmer weather arrives and the holiday weekend is just a week away.

“I would say it’s quiet and it shouldn’t be this time of year,” Dart said.

An elementary school was forced to close Thursday because it had no drinking water. The water company is providing free bottled water at three locations and has increased customer pay from £15 ($19) to £115 ($145).

Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said more people are likely to fall ill with cryptosporidiosis in the coming days or weeks due to a delay in the incubation period.

“Even if they have already stopped all new infections, we would expect to see more cases for at least 10 days to two weeks,” he told the BBC.

Anthony Mangnall, a Conservative member of Parliament for the region, said residents would likely have to boil water for another week. He said he was concerned about the water company’s response to the outbreak and promised to hold it accountable.

“They have been slow to act and communication with customers has been very poor,” Mangnall said. “This has certainly undermined confidence in our water network.”