Earlier in the week, there were some questions on a taste of chlorine in some Island tap water.
VB reader Mark Bennett commented on Facebook that “Southern Water are doing a routine ‘flush through of the water mains pipes in the area’. A card should have been popped through your door. It is not ‘hazardous to health’ and should only discolour the water.”
As a follow up, we got in touch with Southern Water to find out more.
Flushing programme across the Island
A Southern Water spokesman said: “We are running our mains flushing programme in selected parts of the Isle of Wight and have so far worked in the Binstead, Lake and Brading areas.
“Mains flushing helps prevent discoloured water coming out of customers’ taps by removing harmless deposits that have built up in the pipes. This would not have any effect on the taste of the water.
“Customers may notice a slight discolouration to their tap water while flushing takes place. While this is harmless to health, it can understandably cause concern.
“If customers find their water is discoloured, our advice is to run their taps until the water runs clear.
“The £4 million, three-year programme to flush 1,266km (nearly 800 miles) of mains across the South East is due to move to Yarmouth next week. Information cards are being posted to all customers whose supplies could be affected.”
