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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Niall Deeney

Tap water 'safe to drink' insist NI Water despite concerns raised in Derry

Potential safety concerns have been raised about drinking water in the Waterside area of Derry.

A Sinn Fein candidate has shared images of water from a household tap in the Top of the Hill area showing cloudy, yellow water.

NI Water, however, say the cloudy, discoloured water is "safe to drink".

Read more: Artwork by vulnerable people torched by suspected arsonists in blaze at Derry mental health facility

Waterside candidate Caitlin Deeney said: "A number of residents in the Top of the Hill area have been in touch with me to raise concerns about discoloured water coming from their taps.

"I have been in contact with NI Water to raise these concerns and the potential safety implications for people drinking this water."

She added: “On the back of this, NI Water engineers are carrying out an investigation to get to the bottom of this.

“In the meantime, I would urge people to check their water and please feel free to contact myself or NI Water directly with any concerns.”

In a statement to Belfast Live, a spokesperson for NI Water said: "“Contractors carrying out an excavation on the Trench Road accidentally damaged a water main, affecting customers in the Gobnascale area of the city.

"NI Water is aware that some customers have experienced cloudy or discoloured water following this interruption, however we assure customers that the water is completely safe to drink.

"Air in water can sometimes cause a discolouration, which can happen when there has been an interruption to the water supply and the operational activity associated with restoring the water supply. NI Water teams have been active in the area carrying out remedial work and would like to thank the public for their patience as we resolve the issue."

The spokesperson added: “NI Water has a robust testing and sampling system which sees over 120,000 samples lifted and analysed each year as required by the Drinking Water Regulations. Samples are taken from customer homes, from drinking water reservoirs and from treatment plants with sampling and analysis carried out 365 days per year.”

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