Locals in Pimlico, Central London, say they are unable to drink from taps or wash their children because of the ‘brown’ water which keeps coming out of their taps. They claim it smells of fuel
Residents living on an estate claim their homes have transformed into petrol stations after their tap water turned in a “Fanta-coloured” substance which smells like “oil”.
Morgan House residents, based on Lillington and Longmoore Gardens Estate in Pimlico, London, say they’ve been unable to wash or drink due to the issue. The mystery has left families out of pocket, with them stating that it is safer to buy bottled water.
Locals say they have been dealing with the problem for at least two months and have called on Westminster City Council to conduct more testing with Thames Water. It comes after both parties said their tests found no traces of petroleum hydrocarbons despite residents being left with itchy skin.
Locals say they were forced to carry out their own private testing which found evidence of “significantly elevated” levels of hydrocarbon compounds usually found in petrol and mineral oils. However, Thames Water claims the test can’t be relied on as accurate.
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Akiko Yoshioka has lived in her top-floor flat since 2011 with her husband and young child. She said the family recently had to stop washing their hands and face with tap water and no longer clean raw vegetables with it. “Straight away I stopped using the water. I didn’t feel it was safe,” the mum said.
Another man, who asked not to be named, said he spends £10 a week buying bottled water and drives his two young kids to their grandmother’s in North West London just so they can shower, reports My London. He said: “It’s a real inconvenience. I have two children who need to be bathed. I’ve had to buy bottled water because we are so worried about the taps.”
Adrian, who has lived in his top-floor flat since 2004, said he refuses to drink the water in his flat. He said: “What’s the point of having water if it’s not healthy?” Ward councillor Ed Pitt Ford said he was one of the first council representatives on the estate and recalls “brown” drinking water which “smelled of oil” coming from residents’ sinks. The issue first appeared on April 15.
He said he urged council contractors to test water in the boiler room, which he said had just undergone works, but was rebuffed and told tests would be carried out the next day. He claims the council refused to do more tests.
Frustrated by the response, Cllr Pitt Ford requested £200 from the local ward budget to carry out private testing – a request that was turned down. The North Pimlico councillor accused Westminster City of “running down the clock” on testing existing samples.
He said: “I cannot understand the inhumanity of the council’s response. They seem more concerned with making this go away than making sure they can stop it happening again. The silence from the Labour Cabinet, who should be all over this, is deafening; they have abandoned the residents.”
Private testing later revealed high levels of hydrocarbon compounds in samples handed in. The results suggest contamination may have been localised to a few buildings and it’s not clear when, where or how the polluted water entered the system.
The unnamed resident who shared the results said: “It’s what we suspected. We just couldn’t understand why the council wouldn’t test it. It smelled like a petrol station.” It’s a frustration shared by fellow Morgan House resident Meena Grover. The 60-year-old was in India at the time of the alleged contamination but continued to help residents.
She said the council refused to carry out testing and accused officers of having a “siege mentality” towards residents. She said: “The council and officers who are supposed to care for you don’t care. They don’t look at you like a human they have a duty of care over. They do their jobs but they don’t see us. Sometimes it feels like they see us as the enemy.”
According to Westminster City Council, Thames Water tested the drinking water on April 16 and reported it as safe. This included a test for hydrocarbons and none were found to be present. The LDRS was told the cold water system in Morgan House feeds the hot water system and that the council checked the hot water system on April 15 and 16 and tested the water in line with regulations and there were no issues found.
But Cllr Pitt Ford said the council only carried out pH testing, which he claimed does not detect if petrochemicals are present in the water. Westminster City staff dispute this, emails seen by the LDRS show. It comes as residents told the LDRS life has become “unbearable” on the estate as plumbing issues cause homes to be flooded with scalding-hot water and sewage, lifts break down and the heating system constantly breaks.
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request submitted by the LDRS also found the estate had one of the highest rates of plumbing and heating repair requests over a five-year period across all council estates.
Thames Water said it carried out extensive on-site testing to its water supply impacting the building and at a number of residents taps on the estate following concerns over quality of water. It said all tests have come back clear but promised to continue supporting Westminster City Council and local residents to help them identify the source of the problem.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We take the quality of our water extremely seriously – it is one of the highest quality drinking waters in the world – and since 2010 more than 99.95% of tests taken from customers’ taps met the standard required by UK legislation.”
The council’s tests are said to show all water sources are fully compliant with The Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2018 with no parameters of concern. Cllr Liza Begum, Cabinet Member for Housing Services said: “We take the claims made by residents seriously and have apologised for any stress and inconvenience caused.
“The council has a thorough complaints process, and we work hard to address all problems raised as quickly as possible. We know that there is a recurring issue with leaks across the estate that is causing disruption for residents. This is due to an ageing communal hot water and heating system that needs to be replaced and we’re working towards finding a more efficient, reliable and sustainable option.”
The Mirror has contacted Thames Water and Westminster City Council.
