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Watchdog Wants Payouts Upped ; Confidence in Water Supplies Low

Posted on: Thursday, 22 December 2005, 09:00 CST

By ROLAND HUGHES

COMPENSATION payments to thousands affected by the cryptosporidium bug should be upped a consumer champion has demanded.

The number of people affected by the potentially-deadly water bug rose by three to 219 last night.

Consumer Council for Water Wales (CCWW) claimed Gwynedd and Anglesey householders' confidence in water supplies was at a low ebb.

The watchdog demanded the affected homes should be given free bottled water until health bosses gave supplies the OK.

More than 37,000 customers were told to boil their drinking water after the outbreak became public in late December.

Water bosses last week offered a one-off pounds 25-a-customer goodwill payment. The source of the bug is thought to be Llyn Cwellyn near Rhyd Ddu, Gwynedd, but the cause of the outbreak was still unclear.

Dr Cymru-Welsh Water officials came under fire for the speed of their response to the crisis, but maintained they acted immediately when it became clear there was an outbreak.

The CCWW yesterday wrote to Dr Cymru-Welsh Water chief executive Nigel Annett demanding to know n what was being done to ensure clean, safe water from Cwellyn Reservoir n why the public were not told earlier about the problem n when the Boil Water notice will be removed from affected consumers.

Dr Cymru-Welsh Water was also being urged to supply the 37,000 affected households with bottled water.

CCWW chair Diana McCrea said: "We acknowledge that a goodwill payment of pounds 25 has already been offered to customers but this is not enough for their inconvenience - and especially for those who have been made ill.

"Fair compensation should be in line with best practice in other water companies.

"Until we have reassurance from Dr Cymru and the outbreak control team that the problem is sorted, we are reminding people they must boil all drinking water until the 'boil water' notice is withdrawn"Why were the public and the Consumer Council for Water Wales not told earlier of this potential health risk? Why is it that current procedures have not been able to resolve the situation?"

Last night National Public Health Service spokesman Chris Lines said: "It appears the number of primary cases is on the decline.

"This is what we would expect to see two to three weeks after a Boil Water Notice is issued."

He added 22% of those people affected fell ill after catching the bug from someone else, rather than from the original source

Source: Daily Post; Liverpool

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