Tap water is safe to drink

Severn Trent has announced that tap water is now safe to drink for all the homes that had their supplies interrupted when Mythe water treatment works was flooded.

Results from intensive quality sampling and testing confirm that restored tap water supplies meet all the strict quality standards set by the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI). This means that people no longer need to boil tap water before drinking it.

Tony Wray, Severn Trent Water's managing director, said: "We had to be 100 per cent certain that all supplies were back up to the normal high standards before we could remove the 'boil tap water' instruction." Supplies of bottled water will remain available until the incident closes but the majority of bowsers are now being withdrawn.