Most of the tourists milling around the busy fishing harbour or visiting Agatha Christie’s riverside holiday retreat have probably forgotten what South West Water euphemistically calls the “Brixham incident”.
But for residents at the centre of the “incident” – a parasite outbreak that caused perhaps hundreds of people in south Devon to fall ill after they drank contaminated water – the physical and psychological impacts are still keenly felt.
People who live in the outbreak zone say they believe that they continue to endure illnesses caused by the contamination, while many vow to never drink tap water again.
“So many of us are still suffering,” said Lisa Horswill, 55, who believes her autoimmune issues may be down to the outbreak. “I had an existing health condition before it happened but I have been much worse since.”
Her husband, Kris Horswill, 44, had kidney problems before the outbreak in the spring and summer of 2024, but his health has worsened and he is about to start dialysis. They can’t say for certain that the outbreak has caused their health to deteriorate. “But we don’t think it is a coincidence,” Lisa said.
The Horswills, who live in Higher Brixham, one of the neighbourhoods worst hit, say they will never drink water straight from the tap again and have invested in a filtration system. “That costs us £450 a year, which stings a bit, especially when our water bills are going up all the time,” Lisa said.
The outbreak was caused when the parasite cryptosporidium entered the water supply for homes and businesses.
A judge has now fined SWW £1.853m for supplying water unfit for human consumption after a parasite outbreak made hundreds of people sick.
Many of those who drank contaminated water suffered the illness cryptosporidiosis – crypto – with symptoms including profuse watery diarrhoea, stomach pains, nausea or vomiting, low-grade fever and loss of appetite.
Another Higher Brixham resident, Michelle, said the four-year-old foster child she was looking after became ill with cryptosporidiosis on 6 May 2024.
He was suffering severe diarrhoea and, after seeking advice on the NHS website, Michelle made sure he took on lots of fluids. “I was giving him pints and pints and pints of water to try to make him better but he was getting sicker and sicker.”
Michelle said the first she heard that there was a wider problem was not through official channels but during a playground chat. She rang South West Water (SWW). “I spoke to the most horrible man. He said: ‘No, our drinking water is the highest possible quality’.”
Many feel that SWW did not act quickly enough. The company says it received the first report of illness from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on the afternoon of 13 May 2024. It identified the presence of cryptosporidium in the early hours of 15 May and began to ask people potentially affected to boil their water.
Michelle broke the news to the child’s birth family. “I had to tell them I had been giving him contaminated water and he had got crypto,” said Michelle. “I still feel guilty and emotional.”
Jen Watts, also a Higher Brixham resident, said her 10-year-old son developed avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder after becoming ill in the outbreak. He spent four days in hospital and Watts said he was still struggling with his health.
“It’s impacting us in a very devastating way and will be for the ongoing future. It’s very raw,” she said.
In March, SWW admitted supplying water unfit for human consumption and on Tuesday was fined. SWW said in court it believed a damaged air valve and illegal water pipes on a farm had caused the outbreak. It insisted it had thoroughly contained the contamination and put extra measures in place to stop it happening again.
Watts welcomed the fine but said it did not go far enough. “It is a moral victory but it doesn’t directly help those who are living with the ongoing severe and life-changing problems as a result,” she said.
“I believe that custodial sentences should have been given as part of the punishment as the circumstances are so severe and the impact so devastating. My son is still suffering. Life is incredibly difficult.”
A second community badly hit was Kingswear, a beautiful village on the banks of the River Dart with a steam railway station.
Jo Byrne, 54, the manager of its post office, said she was very sick at the time. “I thought I had food poisoning,” she said. “I lost 13lb in three days.” She tried to return to work as soon as possible but recalls one day when she had to sleep in the shop because she did not have the strength to get home.
“I have IBS [irritable bowel syndrome] now,” she said. “I’m mad at South West Water and I’d never drink their water again.”
Christopher Dawes, a leading member of Kingswear parish council, said he was ill for about four days. “It was coming out both ends, I’m afraid to say. It was pretty unpleasant and painful.” He said he thought most people had gone back to drinking tap water. “But lots of people still won’t and there’s still a lot of anger.”
According to the UKHSA, 143 people fell ill but most of those the Guardian spoke to believe there were many more cases.
“I don’t believe it only affected 143,” said Zanne Henderson, who runs a seafood shack in Kingswear. No way. There were thousands of us.”
Henderson said it badly hit morale in the area, which depends heavily on tourism. “We had only just got through Covid and then this whacked us.”
She said she had started to feel very ill on 10 May 2024. “What do you do when you feel a little ill? Drink more water. It was absolutely horrendous.” Henderson feels her immune system is compromised. “I feel like I have long crypto. That’s what it feels like to me.”
The Guardian asked SWW to comment on ongoing health problems and people’s doubts about the scale of the outbreak. It said it would issue a statement after the sentencing.
