E. coli water alert lifted
A BOIL water alert, issued after an E. coli scare in three Moray villages, has been lifted.
The advisory warning was made on Wednesday night after E. coli bacteria was found in the local supply during routine tests.
However, Scottish Water said test results are now "normal", and the water is safe to drink.
Up to 2,000 people were affected.
Derek Ogilvie, Scottish Water operations manager, said: "My sincere thanks to our customers who were affected. It was an unusual event and we’re very sorry for the disruption. We’ll continue to investigate the circumstances."
Dr Diana Webster, NHS Grampian’s consultant in public health medicine, added: "The boil advice was issued as a precaution. We can see from the latest samples the supply is clear, so the public can resume using their water as normal.
"We have had no reports of any illness related to this event."
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead said residents would be happy to hear the news.
"There will be huge relief in Kinloss, Findhorn and Burghead that the all- clear has been issued for drinking water," he said.
"However, clearly, there is concern about how the authorities go about notifying residents when a boil notice is issued. Understandably, a number of local people and businesses are concerned by the delay that arose in some cases."
Mr Lochhead said he is asking Scottish Water to carry out a review to "ensure that lessons are learnt".
