More residents concerned with yellow water

As reported by the Daily Echo, residents across the area have been noticing a discolouring of tap water, which Bournemouth Water has said is safe to drink.

However, more residents have come forward to say that they are not convinced over the safety of the yellow water.

One resident, a pensioner, said she doesn’t feel comfortable drinking the water, so she has been buying bottled water.

This has been costing her around £2 a day, which has forced her to turn her heating on later, to try to save money.

“I don’t even give it to my dog”, she said.

“I’m still bathing in it, it’s something I don’t want to do but I have to.”

She said she feels she cannot trust the water companies who advised it is safe, a sentiment shared by another resident, who said that she first noticed discoloured water last year after moving to Hengistbury Head.

She was told that water discolouring was rare, and that it is caused by run off after heavy rainfall in the New Forest.

However, the resident claimed it is not a rare occurrence, and the water companies know that the discolouring will happen every year.

“They know it’s going to happen before people start to complain about it,” the resident said.

“Trust in the water company is low right now.”

She said she was frustrated at the attitude of Bournemouth Water, who she said won’t inform residents of discoloured water until they have complaints about it.

Another resident said that their water has a “dirty” smell to it, along with discolouration. She has not bought any bottled water yet, but she is considering it.

“I have got three children, one of them has a lot of allergies, so I need to work out what is safest,” she said.

Bournemouth Water have continued to stress that the water is safe to use.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We’d like to reassure customers that we are monitoring the situation closely and that the water is fine to continue to use as normal.”