Race to find E coli source as 2,000 people told to boil drinking water

AN INVESTIGATION was continuing last night to pinpoint the source of E coli contamination which has affected water supplies to three coastal communities.

More than 2,000 people living in the Burghead, Kinloss and Findhorn areas of Moray have been warned to boil their water before using it for drinking or cooking after traces of the bacteria were found in a storage tank that supplies homes in the area.

The bug can cause sickness and diarrhoea and a highly toxic strain of E coli that claimed the lives of 51 people in Germany, Sweden and America was recently linked to potentially contaminated fenugreek seeds from Egypt.

Yesterday as investigations continued to identify the type of E coli bacteria found in the Moray storage facility, health experts stressed that only a "very small" number of bacteria had been found during routine tests.

Dr Diana Webster, a consultant in public health medicine with NHS Grampian, sought to reassure the public.

She said: "As a precautionary measure we decided the best thing to do was to advise the residents to boil water until we have investigated the possible causes and made sure that the water is safe to use, following further sampling.

"Protection of public health remains our priority so, although the latest result from the supply is good, we would like to see a further good result before lifting the boil water advice.

"There are a large number of different sorts of E coli and at the moment we haven't got the typing on this one.

"But there were a very small number of bacteria in the water supply so we would be surprised if anybody actually becomes ill.

"We don't have an outbreak of illness. We are monitoring the levels of illness in the community and at the moment we haven't had any evidence of an increase."

Dr Webster declined to speculate on the possible cause of the contamination but said Scottish Water had found no obvious reason for the presence of bacteria in the storage tank.

She said: "Their investigation is ongoing,"

A spokesman for Scottish Water said an estimated 2,000 people relied on supplies from the storage tank and praised the response from the householders affected.

He said: "Sample results from the supply received today are encouraging but further signs of improvement will be needed before the boil water advice can be lifted."

Scottish Water's operations manager Derek Ogilvie said: "We've worked hard to get information to the affected communities as quickly as possible and would like to reassure customers outwith the Burghead, Kinloss and Findhorn area they are not affected.

"The boil water advice is a precaution and I'm very sorry for the disruption it's causing. Meantime we are continuing to monitor the supply."

Householders are being advised to boil water for drinking, food preparation, making babies' feeds and brushing their teeth.However, the water can still be used for bathing, washing clothes and dishes and flushing toilets.

Richard Lochhead, the MSP for Moray, said: "The issuing of the boil water notice for Burghead, Kinloss and Findhorn will obviously cause some worry in those communities.

"This type of problem can be caused after periods of heavy rainfall and hopefully we will see the supply return to normal in the near future."