Water Quality Incident at Tomintoul, Moray on 21 October

Residents of the Morayshire village of Tomintoul were advised not to use their tap water for drinking or any purpose other than flushing toilets after a problem with the process used to regulate the pH of the water at Blairnamarrow treatment works. The advice notice was lifted on 22 October and the water is safe to use again in the normal way.

Water used for public supplies in Scotland tends to be naturally acidic, so at most treatment works Scottish Water has to dose a small quantity of alkali to raise the pH to around 7 or 8. Without this, the water would taste unpleasant and would be corrosive to plumbing materials. Although the incident is still being investigated, it looks as though the alkali used to raise the pH of the water at Blairnamarrow was accidentally overdosed so that the pH of the water was above safe limits, causing health professionals at Grampian Health Board to advise Scottish Water to issue the "Do Not Use" notice.

DWQR is already investigating an unrelated incident at the Blairnamarrow plant in July when residents of Tomintoul were asked to boil their water for five days due to the presence of the Cryptosporidium parasite. The Drinking Water Quality Regulator, Colin McLaren said:

"I am extremely concerned to hear about this latest incident affecting Tomintoul and am treating it very seriously indeed. Scottish Water must have the appropriate precautions in place to ensure that any substance it is using to treat drinking water is dosed in a controlled and safe manner. I will be investigating this incident in order to establish the facts of the incident and identify any deficiencies in Scottish Water's actions."

"I am aware of the extreme inconvenience the residents of Tomintoul have experienced on a number of occasions due to Scottish Water and am committed to ensuring that water quality is safeguarded whilst we await the construction of the new treatment works that will supply the area. Following completion of my investigations I shall not hesitate to take the strongest possible action against Scottish Water if it is appropriate to do so."