Water crisis report: Basic hygiene lapses caused Northampton outbreak
Inspectors have highlighted the failure of basic hygiene arrangements in a far-reaching report into Northampton's water bug crisis.
The findings are included in an independent assessment of the incident, published today by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI).
The watchdog concluded the June outbreak, which resulted in 258,000 consumers living in the Northampton and Daventry areas having to boil their water, was the result of a failure of basic water supply hygiene arrangements at the Pitsford works operated by Anglian Water.
This oversight by the company allowed a small rabbit to gain access to a wash water tank, meaning the entire drinking water distribution system became contaminated by a strain of the cryptosporidium parasite which infects rabbits.
DWI deputy chief inspector, Marcus Rink, said: "My inspector is critical of this failure of basic water supply hygiene arrangements. However his assessment rightly highlights how it was Anglian Water's own robust monitoring procedures which raised the alarm and secured a quick and effective multi agency response."
The enhanced health surveillance put in place following the alert subsequently found that 22 people contracted cryptosporidiosis due to the same genotype of the cryptosporidium parasite found in the rabbit and water samples.
Previously only a single case of human infection with this strain had been recorded anywhere in the world.
The outbreak has triggered a wide-ranging review amongst water industry leaders. Studies have been commissioned into the rabbit genotype of cryptosporidium led by the UK Cryptosporidium Reference Unit, NPHS, and funded by DEFRA.
Professor Jeni Colbourne MBE, chief inspector of Drinking Water, said: "Consumers can be assured that action has been taken to learn from this incident. My inspectors consistently reinforce the need for close attention to be paid at all times to water supply hygiene arrangements. This incident shows how anything less than constant vigilance is unacceptable."
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Thursday 09 September 2010
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