'Don't drink the water' warning after illicit supply found near Craven Arms
People in south Shropshire have been told not to drink tap water after an "unauthorised connection" was attached to the water network.
Severn Trent Water said it had issued 69 'do not drink' orders to people in the Craven Arms area after finding the private connection, and Shropshire Council announced the Wistanstow Church of England Primary School was closed today due to a "water supply issue".
Ria Gaffney from the water company said: “We’ve issued Do Not Drink notices as a precaution to a small number of customers in the Craven Arms area after our teams discovered an unauthorised connection from a private water supply had been attached to our network.
"While this has now been disconnected we can’t be certain that the water quality is of its usual high standards which is why we’ve taken this action.
“We’ll be providing an alternative water supply for everyone who’s been affected, and have offered to provide the local school with bottled water so they could remain open today if they want to.
"We have also provided the local pub with bottled water so they can continue to operate as normal.
“We’re really sorry for the inconvenience this may cause, we take water quality really seriously and our teams are busy flushing our network to get everything back to normal.
"Once we’re happy with the samples, everyone will be able to use their water as usual.”
The headteacher of the school in Wistanstow, north of Craven Arms, said the school will close tomorrow as well.
Dave Tinker said: "We have been advised not to drink the water or have any contact with it.
"As far as I know a resident reported a pretty weird taste in the water and it started from there.
"We've been forced to close the school.
"There were two or three vans from Severn Trent in the area earlier.
"The question is how long this has been going on. It raises some questions."
