Meeting set over water supply

Severn Trent water officials are to meet with councillors to talk about Oswestry's water supply amid concerns it has not been as good since its source was changed five years ago.Officials will speak to councillors at Oswestry Borough Council's scrutiny committee tomorrow.

Today Councillor John Evans said he wanted to see a return to Oswestry getting its water from the Welsh mountains.

In 2003 Severn Trent switched the water supply from a reservoir in the foothills of the Welsh mountains to water piped from its water treatment works at Shelton.

Councillor Evans said local people, who campaigned against the change, preferred the much softer, mountain water to the hard and often chlorine tasting Shelton water.

He said he had called for talks with Severn Trent because he was constantly getting complaints that the new water simply did not taste the same.

"So many people in Oswestry now have water filters to try to improve the taste of the water," he said.

"I would think that water coming straight from the mountains has to be better than that from out of the river."

He said ironically the water from the Berwyn mountains was taken by United Utilities via a huge pipe underneath Oswestry to supply customers in the north west.

"I want to investigate whether Oswestry could buy its water from United Utilities."

Severn Trent today said that the old water supply could have breached new safety standards if it had been left.