On March 11 the BBC News ran a story 'Thousands of residents warned not to use 'high chlorine' water. It reported

"Severn Trent has warned thousands of customers not to use water while it investigates problems with high levels of chlorine in its supply.

The company said it is investigating an issue at the Castle Donington reservoir in Derbyshire.

It has told residents in the DE11, DE15, DE65, DE73 and LE65 areas of Derbyshire and Leicestershire not to use water for any purpose.

A total of 3,700 properties have been affected."

The Daily Mail story

On the same day March 11, The Daily Mail Online also reported on the issue givena more comprehensive explanation and information.

'Contaminated water supply triggers panic buying after thousands of households are warned not to drink or wash with it - and it's even too toxic to clean TOILETS'.
The article continued

Severn Trent Water warned many customers in Derbyshire, Leicestershire
As many as 3,700 homes could have been affected by the chlorine problem
Water company did not disclose exact chlorine levels, how problem began
Superstores, local shops in the area completely sold out of bottled water

People living in the DE11, DE65 and DE73 areas of Derbyshire have been instructed not to use their water supply

Earlier today, Severn Trent spokesman Jonathan Smith warned locals not to use tap water in any capacity, adding: 'Don't drink it, don't wash with it, don't even brush your toilet with it.'

Up to 0.7mg of chlorine per 1litre of water is considered safe, but Smith told MailOnline he could not disclose the levels found in the Castle Donington reservoir.

He said: 'There is more chlorine than there should be in the water... We can't give you the levels that are in the water.

'We don't know if the level will be high enough that it will do damage to your skin.'

When asked if Severn Trent knew what caused the high chlorine levels, Mr Smith said: 'No, we have to look at that in detail.'

He said the systems should be flushed by midday tomorrow and claimed people will have safe running water by evening time.

But the lack of information given out to residents has concerned many, with one mother, Maria Fowler, tweeting: 'Will this affect my pregnancy? Slightly concerned as I have been drinking the water?'

Mother of two Sarah Yarnall, 34, of Woodville, Derbyshire, tweeted Severn Water at 7pm to ask if she was in the affected area.

Her husband Lee Shakespeare, 39, only found out about the water issue when his children's school texted him.

HEALTH HAZARDS OF HIGH CHLORINE LEVELS IN DRINKING WATER

Chlorine is used to purify water and although low levels of the substance in the water is harmless, the chemicals it can create are known to cause cancer.

Chlorine can react with substances in the water supply to produce compounds known as disinfection byproducts (DBPs), according to a study by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

It said the main byproducts, trihalomethanes (THMs), are mostly responsible for health hazards.

The agency added the compound 'mainly slows down regular brain activity' and prolonged exposure 'can cause liver and kidney cancer, as well as heart disease, unconsciousness, or death in high doses'.

Severn Trent Spokesperson levels of chlorine higher than a swimming pool

Severn Trent said they have 'cut off the service' to the reservoir where the problem was observed.
Principal inspector Sue Pennison said earlier today: 'The normal level in a swimming pool is between two and four micrograms – this is a little bit higher than that.'
The company is now in the process of 'flushing the pipes' at the reservoir so the contaminated water is washed out.
'This will take as long as it takes for us to be 100 per cent certain that our customers are safe,' Mr Smith told Sky News earlier today.

Sources: BBC News
Daily Mail Online
Fliuch Off Irish Water Ltd

Irish Water, the Environmental Potection Agency along wity the Health and Safety Authority in Ireland have conned the public into thinking that they have to chlorinate to protect drinking water quality from microbiological contamination.

Startling new revelations uncovered by Friends of the Irish Environment about Trihalomethanes, a cancerous causing chemical in our drinking water has put all agencies responsible for our drinking water in the spotlight.

Not only are these chemicals caused by a reaction to chlorine being added to the water, but it is now known that the above agencies and our government knew about the problems and the risks of taking this chlorine option.

Irish Water's biggest lie

Tony Lowes, Director of Friends of the Irish Environment, holds no punches when it comes to laying the blame for the massive problems today with our drinking water. He attributes it to the stance Ireland's regulatory bodies, Irish Water and the Government have taken and has described it as 'Irish Water's Biggest Lie'.

Mr Lowes does not accept the official line and says it is a con to say that it would be dangerous and irresponsible to stop chlorinating in order to avoid what they class as a 'minor' by-product of disinfecting with chlorine. He says that the by product can create more than 60 chemicals classed as trihalomenthanes, THMs.

Irish Water and supporters are pushing the line ‘The real risk of inadequate chlorination outweighs the risk associated with THMs and should be avoided’. ‘We can’t risk public health!’ they say accusing interfering environmentalists like ourselves and Erin Brockovitch of ‘scaremongering’.

After a complaint from a resident in Ballycroy County Mayo in 1998 which triggered an EU Environmental Compliance investigation, Ireland was condemned by the European Court of Justice on November 14 2002 over the microbiological contamination of hundreds of public and private water supplies.

EU Commission Warned Ireland not to add Chlorine

The EU's Drinking Water Directive requires an absence of e.coli in drinking water supplies in order to protect human health. These bacteria point to a high risk of human pathogens being present. In 2007 Ireland received a final written warning for not complying with that judgment. After Ireland chose chlorine as an answer to the problem, the Commission warned them privately that chlorine was not really suitable for Ireland – that two of the biggest threats both biologically and chemically to Irish water are not addressed by chlorine – cryptosporidium and Trihalomethanes. However, the Commission stance that the method by which a member state addresses a judgment of the court is left to the member state’s discretion.

New York City, for example, protects its water sources so carefully that most of it does not even require filtration and minimal chlorine is used only in conjunction with UV light which inactivates harmful microorganisms but does not change the water chemically since nothing is added except energy.

Carcinogens are being created by method used by Irish Water

Irish water is creating these chemicals by using the wrong kind of disinfectant for our surface waters. These chemicals were not there before Irish Water got its hands on it. The unsuspecting public are paying the price now for the refusal of the Irish State to listen to good advice. Instead the state took the ‘cheap’ and easy way out.

Mr Lowes said "The Irish State has been putting your health at unnecessary risk. Alternative methods of disinfection like UV light and filtration systems would have rendered the current water treatment structure obsolete (as it has transpired to be), so requiring more money and higher maintenance – with chlorine, you just chuck it in. All the Commission could do and did with diligence was to pursue Ireland relentlessly to at least install chlorine meters, as chlorine is a poison and as they say in the trade, ‘poison is in the dose’.
o it’s NOT a question of chlorine OR THMs. Chlorine does not stop cryptosporidium. And it actually creates THMs. Don’t believe their lie."

Tony Lowes
Director Friends of the Irish Environment
Office 353 (0)27 74771
Mobile 353 (0)87 2176316
Kilcatherine, Eyeries, County Cork
www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org