Fuel contamination affected water supplies on a Cambridge estate (stock image) (Image: Michael Caristo) Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest
BREAKING news and daily roundups More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Sign up to our free email newsletter to receive the latest breaking news and daily roundups Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice Water contamination on a Cambridge estate in January was caused by fuel, a water company has confirmed. Residents at the Marleigh estate received a letter about an investigation into the contamination on Tuesday (March 26). Residents at the estate were told not to use tap water for anything other than flushing the toilet by Independent Water Networks (IWN) on January 18. The 'do not use' warning was changed to a 'do not drink' warning on January 23 , with residents told the water was safe to use on January 24. Charlie Thackeray, Water Network Director at IWN, wrote to residents explaining that new legs of water main were added to the existing supply system at the Marleigh estate on January 17. He said: "Within 24 hours of connecting the new water mains, we received reports of a diesel-like smell in the water." Read next: Cambridge visitors could have to pay new ‘tourist tax’ from 2025 Read next:
fire service warns Cambridgeshire locals may see smoke during training exercise The new section of water mains was disconnected with IWN taking samples for laboratory analysis. The network was also flushed and retested until the system was clear. "Some small areas of fuel contamination were found in 6 locations," Mr Thackeray wrote. "It is not possible for us to be certain where the contamination came from. Possibilities include from plant or vehicle refuelling spills or possibly from contaminated imported backfill materials." Small quantities of the fuel contamination entered the newly laid water system. The company has since arranged to replace all the mains laid in the construction area with 'barrier pipe' to ensure water supplied meets all water quality requirements. Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow CambridgeLive
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