Elvington residents told to boil tap water after bacteria found

Yorkshire Water say they're currently testing samples.

Author: Harry LongPublished 19th Oct 2021
Last updated 19th Oct 2021

Residents in Elvington near York are being asked to boil their tap water before drinking it or using it for cooking - after possible bacteria was found in it.

Yorkshire Water are notifying people who are affected - and say they expect to give an update tomorrow lunchtime - after they've tested samples.

They're handing out bottled water to those who need it in the area in the meantime.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: “We regularly check our drinking water to make sure it meets our high standards and during one of these routine tests we’ve found a potential bacteria issue in Elvington near York. While we investigate this, as a precaution we’re advising that customers who live in Elvington boil their water before drinking or using it for cooking.

“We’re sorry about this, but we’re taking the precautionary approach to keep everyone safe. We’re directly notifying the residents who are impacted, and we’ll be providing updates on our website. The bacteria is not usually harmful to health but until we've done extra sampling we're taking this approach as a precaution.

“We’re still undertaking extra tests to understand when we can lift this precautionary advice to allow everything to return to normal. We need to wait for two days of clear test results before we can do this. It can take up to 20 hours for our lab to fully test the samples, so once we have received the test results for the samples taken today then we can provide an update. We expect this to be tomorrow lunch time.

“In the meantime, our colleagues are busy in the area providing bottled water to those who need it and answering any questions that residents may have.”