Families are warned NOT to drink, cook or brush teeth with tap water in urgent letter to homes on Welsh estate

• Residents of St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, warned yesterday not to use water
• Letter was sent by chief executive of provider Ancala Water Services
• Said water was found to be ‘not meeting the high standards required’
• No date has been given for when the water will be safe to drink once again 

Families on a Welsh housing estate have been told not to use tap water for drinking, brushing their teeth or even cooking after it failed to meet safety standards.   

Residents of St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, were issued with a letter telling them to avoid the mains supply and use bottled water instead. 

According to residents, they were informed not to use their water supply on Thursday, May 12. 

It’s been claimed they were told bottled water would be delivered to their addresses, but were later told to attend collection points to pick up supplies. 

Residents say they have been told that the issue will last one to two days, but no formal communication about when the water will be okay to drink has been received.

In a letter dated May 12, the chief executive of provider Ancala Water Services, Mike Howarth, told residents to not drink the water and said bottled supplies would be delivered to their addresses. 

However, residents claim they were later told to attend collection points to pick up supplies. 

A photo shows residents carrying packs of bottled water back to their homes. 

Families on a Welsh housing estate in St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan have been told not to use tap water for drinking, brushing their teeth or even cooking after it failed to meet safety standards

He said that ‘routine sampling’ had found the water was ‘not meeting the high standards required’. 

Residents were told to avoid using the water for drinking, cooking or brushing their teeth. 

The letter also added that pets should also not be allowed to drink the water, but that it can be used for washing or bathing, cleaning clothes and flushing toilets. 

It added: ‘Whilst we work to resolve the issue we are providing you with bottled water, this will be delivered to your address. 

‘The risk of becoming ill from your tap water is low. 

‘When we’re satisfied that there is no further need for this precautionary measure, we’ll contact you again to advise that you can use your water as normal.’

In a letter dated May 12, the chief executive of provider Ancala Water Services, Mike Howarth, told residents to not drink the water

Mr Howarth added: ‘I’d like to apologise for this inconvenience and assure you that we’re doing everything possible to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.’

One resident, Holly Darch, spoke of the confusion as people lined the streets to receive their water supplies. 

She said: ‘The letter said we would receive the bottled water at our address, but then we found out via a Facebook post that we had to go to collection points.

‘We haven’t been told what’s wrong with the water as they are still investigating, but we only found out there was a problem this afternoon, so everyone has been using the water all day, which is worrying.’

There has not yet been any indication of when residents will be able to use their taps again. 

Ancala Water Services have been contacted for comment.

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