Northumbrian Water customers in Darlington advised to keep boiling water

Customers in areas of Darlington are being advised to continue boiling their water before use.

On Tuesday, February 1, a fault with a valve at Broken Scar Treatment works allowed a small amount of water into the networks that had not been fully disinfected.

Although the problem was quickly fixed, Northumbrian Water made the decision with UK Health Service Agency (formerly Public Health England) to advise people in some postcodes in Darlington to boil their water as a precaution.

Teams from the water company have been carrying out a full review of the water networks and doing sampling tests across Darlington and initial test samples have all come back clear so far.

Although this is positive and shows that the risk to the public is very low, it is too soon to lift the boil notice completely.

Further test results, that are expected tomorrow, should give an indication of whether restrictions can be lifted on Thursday or Friday . Customers will be informed as soon as this happens.

Northumbrian Water’s Water Director Keith Haslett said:

“We’re cautiously optimistic about the results received back so far from our initial tests. They’re coming back clear and if this continues and all of the other test results come back the same, then we’re hopeful of being able to lift the restriction.

"Until then it’s really important that customers in the areas of Darlington where the boil notice is in place keep boiling any drinking water. Although the risk to the water causing people any harm is very low, there is still a risk and that’s why we felt it was important to issue the precautionary warning that we did.

"We’re sorry for any issues that has caused our customers and we’re working around the clock to get it resolved.”

On Tuesday night hundreds of Northumbrian Water employees were on the ground delivering boil water notices to more than 15,000 properties and delivering bottled water to almost 300 Priority Services vulnerable customers.

15,500 text messages were sent directly to update customers on the situation and regular updates have been posted on the Northumbrian Water social media channels. These updates will continue in the coming days.

Early on Wednesday morning, teams were deployed to school gates across the Darlington area with around 20,000 bottles of water for 60 schools and 25 nurseries within the impacted area.

The exact postcodes of the areas affected are:

DL1 1, DL1 2, DL1 3, DL1 4, DL1 5

DL2 1, DL2 2

DL3 0, DL3 6, DL3 7, DL3 8, DL3 9

Any customers who are unsure if their address is on the boil notice list can check their postcode on our website - www.nwl.co.uk/check-your-area

Any customers who need any extra support can register on our Priority Services Register here - https://www.nwl.co.uk/priority - or either send Northumbrian Water a DM on social media or call 0345 7171100.

Customers who would like to receive updates via text message can register their details here for updates - https://www.nwl.co.uk/register/