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Edited by Johnny O'Shea
All times stated are UK
New cases could appear for weeks, professor says
Image caption: South West Water has opened water stations in the area
Copyright: BBC
Cases of cryptosporidium will be seen in the area for at least the next 10 days, a professor has said.
Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia (UEA) said the parasite could be in the incubation period for up to two weeks.
He said: “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.
“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.”
Water boss 'truly sorry' for parasite incident
Image caption: Susan Davy at a Select Committee in 2021Copyright: UK Parliament
The boss of South West Water (SWW) said she was "truly sorry" for the incident which has impacted homes and businesses in the Brixham area.
CEO Susan Davy Davy said the company would "not stop working until the situation has been resolved".
"Our ground technicians have been working around the clock to identify the source of the contamination and rectify the situation so we can resume a normal water supply," 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."
About 16,000 homes residents have been served boil water notices by SWW.
Faulty valve possible source of parasite outbreak
Image caption: Bottled water is handed out to residentsCopyright: Alamy
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A faulty valve may have allowed a parasite to make its way into the water network in Brixham, south Devon, infecting hundreds of people, South West Water (SWW) has said.
Laura Flowerdew, SWW's chief customer officer, said it had identified a “damaged valve on part of our network which could be the cause”.
She said: “We’re doing further work to make sure we’re absolutely confident that’s the cause and the only cause.
“We’re working through operational procedures in the meantime. We’re also doing further sampling to make sure we’re really confident in that cause."
She said "public health is our absolute priority at this point so we’ll make sure that is fixed".
Stay with us as we bring you all the updates on this story.
