Brixham mum hospitalised with kidney stones after 'avoiding drinking contaminated tap water'

Sam Blackledge speaks to four women from Hillhead in Brixham who have been affected by the infected water outbreak

A mum from Brixham says she was hospitalised with kidney stones which she suspects was caused by dehydration as a result of avoiding drinking contaminated tap water.

Thousands of people in the Hillhead area of the town have been told their water may not be safe after traces of a harmful bacteria were found earlier this month.

South West Water says its latest effort to clean the system is 'making progress'.

Kayley Lewis, who lives near the Hillhead reservoir, told ITV West Country: "I ended up in A&E the other day with kidney stones because of being dehydrated."

Kayley's son was also hospitalised at the start of the outbreak with vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration.

"Emotionally it has been hard," Kayley said. "My middle son is autistic, so he didn't understand why his stomach was in pain and why he was poorly.

"Worrying about the water, even showering. It has been quite stressful."

Kayley's neighbours have also been affected.

Mum-of-two Michaela Lewis said her three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter have been showing symptoms of suspected cryptosporidiosis for several weeks.

"My husband is now unwell as well and I am still suffering," she said.

"It has been very trying. We have cancelled plans because of this, we have pushed back renovations, I have a huge backlog at work. It has been stressful."

Tanya Matthews also said her whole family have been unwell.

"Stomach cramps, diarrhoea, my husband actually stood up one day and collapsed in a heap on the floor, which was really worrying.

"Emotionally it has been really difficult. It's just thrown our whole world upside down."

Jill, who didn't want to give her surname, says she believes older people and those with weakened immune systems have been badly affected.

"It's been very unpleasant, physically and mentally, like living in a third world country really," she said.

"Not being able to go out of your own house in case you have an accident.

"It's almost like despair for some. Others, maybe who are younger with a stronger constitution, have fought it off. Some of us are getting sick over and over again in rounds of it.

"I thought it had gone on Sunday. Then I had an embarrassing incident in the street, and I haven't been out of my house since. This isn't living."

A spokesman for NHS South West said: “People within the boil water notice area should continue to follow the advice given by South West Water and UKHSA.

"If you live outside the affected area your water is safe to drink and we would encourage people to keep themselves hydrated, particularly in warmer weather.

“If people are feeling unwell with symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting, they should stay at home until 48 hours after their last symptoms and keep hydrated.

"If people are concerned about their symptoms, they should not go to hospital but should contact 111 or their GP if their condition worsens, or they do not get better after seven days.”

David Harris, incident director at South West Water, said: “We continue to make progress with the latest phase of our cleaning work, which successfully started last night.

"We are continuously testing water samples to check for the presence of cryptosporidium. Our scientists then follow a detailed testing process which involves filtering a large volume of water through special filters designed to capture any cryptosporidium ‘oocysts’.

"Our teams are working around the clock to flush and deep clean the systems to remove any remaining cryptosporidium.

"Our water quality samples are showing good progress, however, further intense work is ongoing to fully remove any contamination.

"We know this is frustrating and difficult for customers and businesses and we are sorry. We must be confident we have fixed this problem before we can safely lift the boil water notice.

"Our teams of engineers and scientists are continue to work around the clock to clean the network and to put interventions in place to prevent this from happening again. Our main priority is to return supply to the quality our customers expect and deserve, quickly and safely.”