Concern and anger are rising in Lancashire more than two weeks after 300,000 homes were warned to boil tap water following an outbreak of a parasitic bug.

Facing a compensation bill of at least £15m, the water company United Utilities has announced new measures to kill off cryptosporidium after first finding the organism in a water treatment plant on 6 August.

The company said it was a “step closer” to removing the boiled water notice as eight ultraviolet rigs were being installed across its network, where it is hoped rays will kill off the bug, which is said to be at very low levels.



But for the moment boiling must continue, it said. Across the affected area – a swath of Lancashire including Preston, Blackpool and the Fylde coast – residents, including a large number of more vulnerable elderly people, still cannot use unboiled water for drinking, food preparation or brushing their teeth.



The parasite, detected at the Franklaw water treatment plant in Preston, is less than one-tenth of the thickness of a human hair. Symptoms of cryptosporidiosis infection include diarrhoea and abdominal cramps.

“People are not happy,” said Adam Jenkinson, a parish councillor in Hambleton, one of many villages in the Fylde to be affected. “There is quite an aged population around this part of Lancashire. It’s quite a menace for them.”



He said older people also faced difficulties obtaining bottled water, which has been flying off supermarket shelves since the scare began. “They have to get water every day, and a lot of them only get out once a week,” Jenkinson added. “Some have got to rely on neighbours, or families. Even if they can buy their own, they can only carry small bottles, not five-litre canisters.”

Fylde borough council has been forced to lay on extra recycling collections to cope with the mountains of empty bottled water bottles and containers building up outside homes.



“It’s gone too far. And they’ve still not found out what’s wrong, and that’s a big worry. It’s a minor problem but it’s become a major one now,” said Jenkinson. “Compensation is a minor part of it. It’s what it’s doing to the people around Lancashire.”

Although water companies are not legally obligated to compensate customers in such instances, the water regulator, Ofwat, said compensation payments would be expected if the company wanted to maintain its customers’ trust and confidence.



Earlier this year United Utilities had to ask customers in the Bolton area to boil their drinking water for five days after supply problems. In that instance it paid out £15 per house to cover extra costs including boiling kettles. Given the length of the outbreak, affected customers could expect payments of three times that figure – amounting to £13.5m in total.



Many affected businesses are set to lodge much higher demands for compensation, such as providing bottled water to employees and to cover lost profits. BAE Systems, the defence company, is thought to have spent more than £100,000 on keeping its 10,000 workers in Lancashire watered over the past two weeks.

Other businesses that have been forced to shut down or operate at significantly reduced levels will also be pursuing the company for losses. The water company said it would deal with such claims on a case-by-case basis.

A spokesman for United Utilities said: “We are continuing to focus on returning water supplies to normal as quickly as possible. We will then be contacting customers who have been affected to explain what we intend to do by way of compensation, as soon as possible.”

Lyn Day, owner of Lyn’s Lunchbox in Preston, said the restrictions had been “horrendous” and her cafe had shut when the boiling notice was introduced. She had lost £2,064 in total as a result, she told Radio 4’s Today programme. “It’s getting beyond a joke now – it was only to be for a few days and now it’s going into another week, I’m led to believe. I’m only a small cafe – I do not have the facilities to store boiled water,” she said.



Others remained “fed up” by the daily inconvenience. Neil Graham, an office worker from Preston, said his mother-in-law was visiting from Spain. “She’s been with us for three weeks, and for at least two weeks she has had to boil the water, and take care brushing her teeth. We all have. Even just having a glass of water in the morning, you have to boil it. It’s a bit of a nuisance,” he said.



“All my friends are adhering to the instructions to boil the water. I don’t think people are taking it casually. They are taking it seriously. But we’re getting a bid fed up after two weeks. We are looking forward to it ending.”

United Utilities’ customer services manager, Gary Dixon, told BBC Breakfast: “Putting this UV equipment in means that we are a step closer towards being able to lift that boil water notice. Once we get all this UV equipment plumbed in and working, we will then have a better view and be able to accurately forecast when we will be able to lift the notice.

“But until we get all this commissioned and switched on and working, and we get samples that say the water is clear and safe to drink, we cannot specify the time that this is going to be on for.”



Under the terms of the government’s guaranteed standards scheme, the water companies are only required to compensate customers if they fail to provide any water or miss appointments. Ofwat confirmed there are no penalties in place if the water company fails to supply potable water, meaning United Utilities will be able to set its own level of compensation.

A spokesman said: “It would be too early for Ofwat to comment on any details of compensation, before the incident has been resolved and UU have put forward proposals, but it’s important that they continue to maintain customer trust and confidence.”

The company would not be allowed to increase future water bills to cover the cost of compensation as water charges are set by Ofwat.