Devon dirty water latest updates: Brixham parasite cases more than double

Hundreds of holidaymakers are cancelling their trips to Devon in a state of alarm due to an outbreak of a parasite which causes gastrointestinal sickness in the water supply.

South Devon's Brixham has a number of hotels and guest houses to accommodate the influx of tourists during the summer, but they have been hit with a wave of last-minute cancellations following the outbreak.

Read more from Devon Live here

Shop worker claims Brixham is facing 'third world conditions'

Anger is growing in Brixham as 16,000 people have been told they will be without tap water for at least a week following a parasitic outbreak in the water supply. South West Water (SWW) put the boil notice in place on Wednesday after cryptosporidium - a parasite which causes a diarrhoea-like illness - was found in its supply network in Brixham.

Now people in the Alston and Hillhead areas are being told to boil water before drinking it, brushing their teeth, or using it to prepare food. Shop worker Jemma Michaels, 28, said: “It’s absolute chaos in the town, I can’t buy a single bottle of water, people can’t shower or wash their hands.

“It’s like third world conditions here. I think it’s disgusting that we weren’t told about this until yesterday, so many people in the town are ill.

Read more from Devon Live here

Devon’s tourism boss, Sally Everton, said she has “major concern” over the impact of the outbreak.

She said: “The national media coverage that we’ve had could have a knock on effect to our forward bookings.

“But also it’ll have a knock on effect to our what I would call instantaneous bookings like the short lead-in so people will probably look at Devon, rather than just Brixham and Paignton, and think ‘no, we’ll steer clear for the time being’ and that is a major concern to me.”

Businesses also said they had not been contacted by South West Water (SWW), despite the potentially huge impact on their livelihoods.

Michael Smith, co-owner of the Venus Cafe near Brixham, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme they had seen a 40% drop in business in the last two days and had not been contacted by SWW “in any fashion”.

He said: “During the week at the minute we’re not super busy, but we’re losing four, five hundred pounds per day the last couple of days. Come the weekend, sunshine next week and the week after, we’re talking many thousands (of pounds).”

Aaron Richardson, a receptionist at Wall Park Touring Caravan campsite in the town, told BBC News customers had contacted the park stating it was “too risky” to visit. He said the park was left without fresh water until Thursday night and had also not been contacted by SWW.

Tourism businesses in Brixham are now fearing a May 'half-term washout' due to the water contamination issue.

With fears that problems could take 'at least a week' to resolve, businesses in the tourist hotspot are worried about the impact the issue will have, with some saying people are already cancelling trips due to the uncertainty of when the supply will be restored.

Sian, who runs ‘Sandy Toes’, a local shop selling jewellery, sentimental gifts, cards and pottery, said: “It’s half term next week and lots of people are saying they won’t come down because of the water situation.

“I have a small following of people but I rely extremely heavily on tourists so if I don’t have a good tourist season I’m in big trouble. To make a profit I totally rely on tourists."

Carrie Toms, 46, head of bookings at Harbour View Guest House, said: “We’ve had a few cancellations. All we can do is give advice we’re being given and use boiled water for cleaning teeth.

“We’re not always guaranteed to resell the rooms that are cancelled so it could indeed have an impact on the business."

Thousands of households will get a £115 compensation payment from South West Water due to the issues with drinking water in Devon.

SWW initially said it would pay £15 in compensation to customers but this has been increased to £115, which will be automatically paid to household customers who have been issued with the Boil Water Notice by 21 May.

The company is also undertaking deliveries to vulnerable customers, care homes, schools and hospitals and has confirmed that household customers after being told not to drink their tap water.

Read more from Bristol Live here.

A primary school that closed on Thursday due to not having drinking water was back open on Friday.

Eden Park Primary School in Brixham had closed its doors to pupils - with some pupils allowed in to sit SATs exams - but said it was able to open on Friday.

In a statement on its website it said: "Thank you for your patience and understanding as we know that the school being closed would have impacted families in different ways. We were so pleased to receive our Year 6 children as usual; they worked incredibly hard to complete their final SAT mathematics test. Again, thank you to all our families for supporting the school."

It said it had received a water delivery allowing it to open on Friday, but asked for children to bring their own water as they had "limited resources for refilling".

Torbay Council said on Thursday that Eden Park Primary School was the only school which closed in the area.

Cryptosporidium is a parasite that causes diarrhoea in humans. There are many different species but two are the main causes of disease in humans - C. parvum, whose main host is cattle, and C. hominis, whose main host is humans, explains Prof Hunter.

He said the main symptom of Cryptosporidium is diarrhoea which can be prolonged, lasting up to two weeks or more. Most people recover but in people with severely weakened immune systems, it can cause severe disease and can even be fatal.

There is no effective drug treatment for cryptosporidiosis and the main treatment is to keep people comfortable and replace fluids until recovery happens.

Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia (UEA), said cases of cryptosporidium - a waterborne disease caused by a microscopic parasite - will be seen in the Brixham area for at least the next 10 day.

Asked if the parasite could still be in the incubation period for people affected in the area, he told BBC Breakfast: "Absolutely. 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.

"Yeah, 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."

Some people in the area affected have described how they were left in a "dreadful state" thanks to the contaminated water.

Chaz Attwood told Sky News his wife had been ill for 16 days after drinking it, saying: “My wife has been drinking water to keep hydrated because she’s diabetic and the insulin that she’s had to have has doubled, and basically that affected her to start with.

“So that’s made her worse. We’re in a dreadful state. She was so weak I even phoned 999, and told the guy what was happening because she’d collapsed.”

Read more on this from the Independent.

South West Water's chief executive has apologised to people affected by illness caused by a parasite getting into the local water network in Devon.

Susan Davy's apology came as the company said a damaged air valve on a pipe in a field containing cattle had been identified as a potential source of the issue, which has led to cases of waterborne disease cryptosporidium.

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.

“I know on this occasion we have fallen significantly short of what you expect of us.”