Water bug lake improvement works

The work at Cwellyn should improve water quality

Work is 'on track' to improve drinking water quality from a reservoir at the centre of an outbreak of a stomach bug.

Cryptosporidium in water from Llyn Cwellyn reservoir near Rhyd-ddu in Gwynedd, made 231 people ill in 2005.

In September another outbreak of the bug - which can cause stomach upsets - was traced to a treatment works near Bangor, although no-one became ill.

The £14m improvements at Cwellyn will help prevent contamination from heavy rainfall. Work starts in the new year.

The improvement work scheme is going through the planning process, with Welsh Water visiting local community councils to explain the process.

Eirlys Ness, a community councillor at Beddgelert which was affected by the 2005 outbreak, said the improvement scheme was being welcomed there.

In north Wales we have seen a noticeable deterioration in the quality of the previously excellent water in some local reservoirs Peter Perry, Dŵr Cymru

"Quite a few were ill because of the cryptosporidium in 2005 and no-one wants it to happen again," she said.

"There was some concern that the work would affect traffic in the area, but that does not appear to be a problem.

"We've just asked now that the plans are put on public display so that anyone can see what is going to be done," she added.

A spokesman for Dŵr Cymru said the £14 m scheme at Cwellyn was part of a £100m upgrade to 13 drinking water treatment works, in north Wales, which supply water to nearly 500,000 people.

Dŵr Cymru's operations director Peter Perry said it has to provide "a safe and reliable drinking water supply" to customers.

'Weather patterns'

He said the company regretted the inconvenience of boil water notices, and were determined to minimise the risk of such occurrences.

Mr Perry said changing weather patterns, with very heavy rain over the last two summers, meant work had to be done to make sure abnormal rainfall did not affect water quality.

"In north Wales we have seen a noticeable deterioration in the quality of the previously excellent water in some local reservoirs.

"This is the likely result of heavy rainfall causing run-off of debris from hillsides and surrounding areas into our reservoirs.

"This can impact on the quality of the water we receive at our treatment works and present a risk of cryptosporidium," he added.

Fine

Dŵr Cymru was fined £60,000 in October 2007 after admitting supplying unfit water that left 231 people ill in 2005.

The company accepted it should have begun monitoring for the stomach bug much sooner than it did.

In September customers receiving their water from Mynydd Llandygai near Bangor were told to boil their drinking water, as a precaution, after the cryptosporidium bug was picked up at the treatment works.

No known cases of illness were traced back to the alert.

Around £8.8m will be spent on improvement works at Mynydd Llandygai.