Urgent ‘do not drink’ warning issued for tap water in UK region – due to fears of deadly contamination

Residents in North Yorkshire have been told to boil their tap water after tests revealed it contained high levels of bacteria found in faeces. 

The boil water notice was issued by Yorkshire Water for customers in High Bentham, Low Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale areas.

Affected customers should boil their tap water before drinking it, using it to brush their teeth or for washing salad, the company said. 

Yorkshire water issued the notice after routine testing detected the presence of high levels of coliform bacteria during routine testing. 

Coliform bacteria are those commonly found in the digestive systems of animals and people and include organisms like E. coli.

While most coliform bacteria won’t make people severely ill, their presence in water supplies is considered a warning that other, more dangerous but harder to detect, pathogens may also be present. 

This includes cryptosporidium, a potentially deadly parasite that can cause bowel-cancer like symptoms. 

Yorkshire Water said: ‘We regularly check our drinking water to make sure it meets our high standards and during routine tests we’ve found the water supply in High Bentham, Low Bentham and Burton in Lonsdale didn’t meet our usual standards.

‘While we investigate this, we’re asking all customers to boil their water as a precautionary measure to keep everyone safe.’

The company also advised people who feel unwell in the coming days to inform their doctor about the boil notice. 

It added that boiling water should be sufficient to eliminate any of potentially harmful organisms present and that purchasing bottled water is not necessary.

However, supplies of bottled water are being handed out in certain locations if residents are unable to boil supplies at home for any reason.  

Anyone affected by the boil water notice will have been hand delivered a form, the company added.