North Uist water is safe to drink 12/10/11
The public water supply in North Uist has returned to normal and can be used again for drinking and cooking. The advice to use tap water only for washing and flushing the toilet has been lifted.
Too much aluminium was poured into the Bayhead water works supply to try and treat organic matter. Dangerous levels of the chemical affects households from Scolpaig to Knockquien, and the whole of Grimsay and people were warned not drink tap water or use it for preparing food, cooking, making babies feed, or cleaning their teeth.
It has now returned to normal and the 450 affected households can use water as normal for drinking and cooking.
Simon Harrison, Water Operations Manager, said: “I am pleased that we have been able to get the water supply back to normal and wish to thank our customers for their patience and understanding while we rectified the water treatment issue.
“Customers may continue to see some additional tankering activity over the coming weeks around the island and we want to reassure them that this consistent with our plan to normalise our works.
“The cause of the elevated aluminium levels was primarily due to the highly variable
raw water colour causing difficulties pre-
“We acted quickly to deliver bottled water to everyone affected and to make more bottled water available at five locations around North Uist. These stocks were continually replenished by our dedicated field staff.”
Meanwhile Scottish Water has been closely monitoring all our water treatment works (WTWs) in North and South Uist including Benbecula, Lochmaddy and Stoneybridge.
The utility firm has been tankering water in and out of these works as part of its overall operational response and current activity.
It includes tankering water to customers who require it as part of their operating process to minimise disruption, as well as some additional tankering between water treatment works to keep to all customers in supply.
A spokesman said: “We are liaising with the Consultant in Public Health Medicine (CPHM) for NHS Highland and NHS Western Isles to monitor water quality across all works. Our primary function is to protect public health.”