A health board is to launch a new probe into widespread claims by residents that drinking water in Strathspey is making them ill.
Locals have maintained that the water changed after Scottish Water opened a £24million treatment works at Aviemore in 2012 and started taking supplies from an underground aquifer rather than the previous source – Loch Einich in the Cairngorms.
Scottish Water maintains the treatment works has improved the quality of the tap water in the area, ensuring it met all strict regulatory standards.
However, it has admitted that a “small number of customers” had found chlorine levels – necessary to ensure the water quality was safe – not to their taste.
But in response to the growing row, Scottish Water’s Chief Operating Officer Peter Farrer last week met NHS Highland’s Consultant in Public Health Medicine Dr Ken Oates and Moira Malcolm of the Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR). It was agreed that an update on NHS Highland’s consideration of the evidence will be provided in early summer – but Dr Oates said the evidence so far was that the water was of “a high standard.”
Dr Oates said: “The meeting was an open and comprehensive exchange of information about the water supply to the Aviemore area over the past five years. “We noted and discussed the concerns that have been expressed within the community about the taste and smell of the water, but also about potential adverse health effects. “For example, I am aware of the survey (in local newspaper the Strathspey and Badenoch Herald) and note that some residents report that the tap water has a harmful effect on their skin such as increased dryness, redness and itch.
“It is well recognised in the published literature that some people have skin which is more sensitive than others and that for a few with existing skin conditions such as dermatitis or eczema, tap water can exacerbate their symptoms. “At the meeting we agreed to seek and review some additional local health data over the coming weeks which will help to quantify and clarify this issue further. This will enable us to determine if the experience of the community in Badenoch and Strathspey is in any way unusual or outwith what would normally be expected in a large population of 10,000 or so people.
“However, from the evidence we already have, I would like to reassure the local population that I have reviewed and discussed the sampling data from this treatment works with national experts and that we have not seen any scientific data which suggests that the water supply to Aviemore and the surrounding area is in any way unsafe to drink, or to bathe in. “Indeed the opposite is true – that the water is of a high quality and over the past five years has consistently met the strict standards laid down for the water industry in the UK and Scotland.
“We intend to meet again to further review our ongoing work in a few weeks’ time when all the findings will be available and collated together. If any concerns do come to light then I will ensure they are acted upon.”
Chloramines last longer than chlorine and have “no significant taste or odour”, according to Scottish Water. The company said the process is already used in a number of Scottish towns and cities.
A Scottish Water spokesman said the organisation had received 16 calls about the water supply issue in the past two months.
