South West Water is being taken to court over a parasite that infected the water supply in parts of Devon last summer and left dozens sick.
More than 140 people were confirmed to have the diarrhoea-type disease, which also causes stomach pains and vomiting, typically lasting for about two weeks. Four people were hospitalised at the time.
About 16,000 households and businesses in the Brixham area were told by the water company not to use their tap water for drinking without boiling it first.
A water tank at Hillhead reservoir had been found to contain the parasite, the company said at the time. The contamination caused mass disruption in the area, with holidaymakers cancelling their guesthouse bookings and a school having to shut.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) said the summons had been issued to the company for prosecution for potential offences under section 70(1) of the Water Industry Act 1991. This makes it a criminal offence for a water company to supply water that is unfit for human consumption.
Marcus Rink, the chief inspector of the DWI, said: “The Brixham incident was serious with significant impact on the public and the wider community. Accordingly, I consider it appropriate to pass the matter to the court to consider the evidence in the public interest.”
Caroline Voaden, the Liberal Democrat MP for South Devon, applauded the DWI’s decision, saying: “I am pleased to hear that the Drinking Water Inspectorate has decided to take South West Water to court over the cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham last year. It’s important we find out exactly what South West Water knew, and when, and why they told people the water was safe to drink when it wasn’t.
“Many of my constituents still don’t trust the drinking water and are paying for bottled water more than a year on from the outbreak. This incident affected the whole community, damaged businesses, hurt the local economy and, most importantly, made many people severely ill. It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but finally, we are seeing South West Water brought to account.”
A spokesperson for South West Water said: “We will reflect on this summons. South West Water has cooperated fully with the Drinking Water Inspectorate from the outset of this incident to help in its investigations.
“We take this incident extremely seriously, and we will continue to engage fully in response to these legal proceedings. In the meantime, our focus remains on delivering clean safe drinking water to our 2 million customers across Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly.”
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