Surrey residents demand compensation as they face third day without drinkable tap water after petrol station fuel leak

Surrey residents person demanded they beryllium paid compensation arsenic they look a 3rd time without drinkable pat h2o pursuing a suspected petrol presumption substance leak.  

Locals successful the picturesque colony of Bramley person urged Thames Water to wage backmost customers for the immense disruption caused aft the h2o institution issued a 'do not portion notice' implicit fears that the h2o proviso has been contaminated. 

A full of 616 homes successful person been told their h2o is presently unsafe to portion pursuing the find of hydrocarbons — a chemic compound which forms the ground for crude oil, earthy state and coal — connected Thursday.  

Since past residents have been forced to question to two bottled h2o stations successful the colony to cod h2o that is harmless to drink.

It is unclear erstwhile the contented is expected to beryllium fixed, with residents taking to societal media to request compensation payments from Thames Water pursuing the chaos that has been imposed connected their lives. 

Replying to a station by Thame Water connected X, Ruth D'Silve wrote: 'You tin marque it up to everyone by promising not to dump earthy sewage successful rivers and seas, forgoe your immense bonus to springiness compensation and if you find a motivation compass, manus yourselves successful for nationalisation.'

 Michael Graves besides added successful response: 'What astir compensation for residents due to the fact that of your nonaccomplishment to supply drinking h2o acceptable for quality consumption?'

Others person besides called connected section MP and Chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt to measurement successful and assistance lick the issue. 

Lloyd wrote connected X: 'So aft being told a fewer days agone that our h2o was OK to drink, we aftermath up to this. Dogs thrown up each implicit the room floor.

'@thameswater @Jeremy_Hunt however bash we get compensation for the £30 a period you complaint us. Not acceptable. This has been known for weeks.'

 Another section nonmigratory besides vented their frustrations implicit the deficiency of enactment the colony has had since the announcement was enactment successful place. 

They said: 'Country's falling isolated astatine the f****** seams arsenic a effect of rampant privatisation but our 2 main governmental parties conscionable bash not springiness a s*** astir anyone but themselves. 

'People are conscionable getting 'letters and bottled water' arsenic if that's tenable f****** compensation for paying extortionate h2o bills for dirty, unsanitary and unusable water. Who's going to get fired for this????'

Sian Jones, 58, said: 'My 20-year-old girl is disabled and needs to beryllium fed done a feeding tube.

'That requires water, and truthful this is simply a pain.

'The interest besides is that this was caused by a leak from 2016 - truthful person we each been drinking h2o with debased levels of petrol for a while?

'We don't cognize erstwhile this started for sure. So it's decidedly a interest successful presumption of the wellness impact.'

Thames Water has been regularly collecting and assessing h2o samples successful Bramley pursuing a humanities substance leak astatine the petrol station. 

She added: 'If it each gets cleaned up and the h2o gets moving - and the petrol presumption stops poisoning america each - past blessed days.

'But we don't cognize erstwhile that's going to be.'

Mother-of-three Victoria Seagrim, 45, is besides disquieted astir the wellness impacts - peculiarly arsenic her girl has been sick for the past week.

She said: 'My 13-year-old has been nauseous and vomiting recently, truthful I'm evidently present thinking, is this due to the fact that of the water?

'Of course, it could beryllium a coincidence - but we conscionable don't know.'

Ms Seagrim said she had to unreserved down to the room to cod h2o successful the mediate of her moving day.

'I enactment full-time but I've had to travel down present to get h2o - peculiarly arsenic the kids are connected fractional word and they each portion astir 3 litres a day,' she said.

'It's stressful due to the fact that we don't cognize erstwhile it volition beryllium fixed. It could beryllium days - could beryllium weeks.

'We besides don't cognize however agelong the h2o has been contaminated. How agelong person we been unknowingly drinking it?'

Heather Aitken, 72, had akin concerns. She said: 'To get a connection saying, 'Don't portion the water'… It's shambolic. That shouldn't beryllium happening successful a First World country.

'It's a immense wellness concern. I consciousness peculiarly atrocious for the radical with young kids.'

Ms Aitken besides said that the h2o wasn't the lone happening the petrol presumption is affecting.

She said: 'The petrol presumption - and each the works - is causing these ridiculous postulation jams.

'So I unrecorded connected the precocious thoroughfare - and I'm besides disturbed by each the fumes. We're breathing it each successful and it's awful.

'The happening is - nary of america privation the petrol presumption to beryllium reinstated. We don't request it. We person different ones. So it's causing each these issues and nary 1 wants it.'

Another local, who did not privation to beryllium named, agreed. 'I'm moving retired of the colony due to the fact that of the changeless postulation caused by each the works,' helium said.

'It's a shame due to the fact that I emotion it present - and I effort to enactment each the section businesses due to the fact that they're being affected by the nonaccomplishment of footfall, but it's conscionable unsustainable.'

Samples collected connected Thursday aft a substance leak from the colony petrol station suggested 'a imaginable deterioration successful quality' of drinking h2o 'in immoderate areas'.

Households successful Bramley person been warned not to portion their pat h2o oregon usage it for cooking, oregon brushing their teeth, but they tin proceed to usage the h2o to ablution and lavation their hands.

Two bottled h2o stations person been acceptable up successful the colony astatine Bramley Community Library and Artington Park and Ride and volition beryllium unfastened until 9pm tonight.

The informing threatens to beryllium an predetermination setback for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the MP for the constituency.

The Conservative MP yesterday had a telephone with the UKHSA, DEFRA, Thames Water and Asda who acquired the colony petrol station.

Mr Hunt held a gathering with Thames Water CEO Chris Weston successful April to sermon h2o outages, dilatory compensation payments and sewage spills. He is owed to clasp different nationalist gathering successful June. 

A Thames Water spokesperson said: 'On Thursday 30 May, we issued 616 Bramley properties with a 'do not drink' announcement pursuing caller h2o sampling results.

'We delivered bottled h2o to our susceptible customers and the homes affected by the notice, on with letters outlining the advice.

'The 'do not drink' proposal volition stay successful spot portion further investigations are carried out. During this clip the affected customers are advised:

'Don’t portion the pat h2o oregon springiness to pets; don’t hole oregon navigator nutrient utilizing pat water; don’t usage pat h2o to brushwood your teeth; don’t usage pat h2o adjacent aft boiling; tin usage pat h2o to wash; tin usage pat h2o to flush the loo.

'We person besides set-up 2 bottled h2o stations astatine the pursuing locations:

'Both locations volition beryllium unfastened regular 9am to 9pm, portion we negociate this incident, and further bottled h2o deliveries are planned crossed the weekend'

'The wellness and information of our customers is our fig 1 priority, and we would similar to reassure residents that this is simply a precautionary measure.

'We are already connected tract successful the colony proactively replacing sections of our pipes connected Horsham Road to trim the hazard to our customers. We estimation the enactment volition instrumentality astatine slightest 3 to 4 weeks, and we volition beryllium guided by the results of sampling and volition proceed to support customers informed.'

It comes arsenic cases of cryptosporidium, a parasite that chiefly infects radical done faeces-contaminated drinking h2o has present reached 100.

Most of the infections are successful Devon but outbreaks person besides been reported successful Oxfordshire and Worcestershire implicit the past 2 months.

The astir superior outbreak relates to faecal-contaminated drinking h2o successful Brixham, Devon, which started earlier this month.

However, dozens much Brits, including children, person fallen severely sick since the extremity of March aft outbreaks astatine petting farms.

Whole streets successful Brixham person been infected with victims forced to endure days of diarrhoea and agonising tummy cramps, with 1 sufferer adjacent comparing them to 'childbirth.

Residents person been forced to boil h2o for implicit a week to marque it harmless to drink, with immoderate shops moving retired of bottled supplies owed to panic-buying.

The root of the outbreak appears to beryllium damaged aerial valve successful the h2o proviso enactment which 'may person allowed carnal discarded oregon contaminated groundwater to participate the section supply'.

While faecal contaminated h2o is the classical mode radical get infected with cryptosporidium determination are different ways you could beryllium struck down with the bug.

One of these is nonstop interaction with infected animals, a destiny that perchance seems to person befallen dozens of Brits successful caller months.

A spokesperson for Thames Water said: 'Thames Water would similar to reassure its customers that the colony h2o proviso has been harmless to portion up to this point, arsenic confirmed done its rigorous h2o testing, which has besides been taxable to regular reappraisal moving alongside UKHSA passim this period.'

Tess Fayers, Operations Director for the Thames Valley and Home Counties said: 'We are asking 616 Bramley properties not to portion the pat h2o pursuing caller h2o sampling results.

'The wellness and information of our customers is our fig 1 priority, and we would similar to reassure residents that this is simply a precautionary measure. We are successful the process of delivering letters and bottled h2o to the affected properties.

'We are besides identifying locations to acceptable up bottled h2o stations, and we volition stock this accusation with our customers arsenic soon arsenic possible.

'We are already connected tract successful the village, proactively replacing sections of our pipes connected Horsham Road to trim the hazard to our customers.'

An Asda spokesperson said: 'We are continuing to enactment intimately with Thames Water and different partners to code the issues we inherited aft acquiring the Bramley PFS site. We recognise the interaction this has had connected the residents of Bramley and stock their frustrations. We are committed to moving with each parties to resoluteness this concern arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.' 

Meanwhile, Britain's top quality spots and astir stunning waterways are being continually polluted by h2o companies who accidental it is 'not outgo beneficial' to upgrade the web to forestall leakage successful fractional of each cases, MailOnline tin reveal.

In the past twelvemonth alone, quality spots successful Cumbria, the Cotswolds, Cornwall and Sussex person each seen tremendous sewage spills blighting the lives of residents and desecrating the earthy environment.

Earlier this month, it was revealed cardinal of litres of earthy sewage had 'illegally pumped' into Lake Windermere successful the Lake District aft a fault.

Data investigation by MailOnline shows h2o firms decided determination was 'no outgo beneficial solution' to forestall 280 discharge sites successful England that, owed to deficiency of capacity, pumped untreated sewage into rivers and seas for hundreds of hours past year.

The 280 sites crossed the state comprise 48 per cent of 582 offending sites - which discharged for a full of astir 375,000 hours past twelvemonth - wherever a determination connected whether to resoluteness the contented oregon not has been made.