A woman has claimed tap water 'killed her pets' due to a supply change.
Chrissy from Preston in Lancashire has hit out at her suppliers after cleaning and changing the water in her pet guppies tank, which she believes led to the death of her beloved fish. She was shocked to have found her tank full of dead guppies after taking care of them for four years, according to LancsLive.
Chrissy said: "I did a partial water change which you have to do, but I used Safe Water which is a biological enhancer and you put it in when you've got new water to cancel out the harmful chemicals.
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“I put it in, everything was okay and then three days later and I thought, one of my fish has died, oh there's another and another. Three had died but I didn't think anything of it at the time, except that maybe it was a bit odd because I never lose my guppies. I got a few guppies about four years ago and they've always lived their full life cycle.
“I looked again and thought that tank smelled a bit and then there were two more dead at the bottom. Just this morning I had to scoop another out- a pregnant female. I just don't know what to do- It's just not normal for my tank to go like that with fish dying daily."
In addition to the fish she lost, Chrissy had spotted the living fish struggling to swim up the surface and drift back downwards. Chrissy then came across a post on Facebook written by another fish owner from Warrington, who experienced a similar problem.
The owner, Paula Debkowska, suggested it was a change of tap water from supplier United Utilities that caused her fishes deaths, as she further explained that the "the new water is very high in ph". Chrissy said: "I'm extremely angry and upset- I don't know whether to use natural bottled water from the supermarkets, or to use rain water.
“I don't know what the company has put in the water because I only saw the post yesterday but then I put two and two together."
In addition, an email twas provided to LancsLive by fellow pet owner Paula, which indicated that the water change has resulted in the death of her and other pet owner's fish. The email writes: "Your water supply will be blended with other drinking water sources in your area and we’re planning to make the change gradually, beginning in early May.
“Don’t worry, you can carry on using the water as you normally would. It will continue to meet all the same high quality standards as always - it may just be a little different from what you’re used to. In an interview with LancsLive, Paula said: "I noticed the water was different last week but I thought it was just my fish tank and then when I did a water change all the fish died within a few hours.
“I went to the aquatics centre and they said it might be the decorations in the tank but they hope it's not the water - the first thing I did when I got home was test the water and that's where the high pH results came up. I've never had a problem with the water or the tanks. I called United Utilities who said they were doing pipe changes earlier in May and that they're changing supplies.
“They said they added plenty of minerals to make it better quality for human consumption. Seeing the water results I made the post on Facebook. Because I had several people saying their fish died I tried to spread the post and awareness in the North West area (including Preston).
“Without counting there were at least 30 people on the posts said their fish died within the last week after having them for years. I've lost a full tank of fish and I've seen that other people's fish are dying and they don't know why."
United Utilities have advised that pet owners must ‘must follow expert advice’ to follow any requirements necessary for their fish. A spokesperson said: “We work around the clock to provide customers throughout the North West with a high quality reliable supply of water.
“To do this, we sometimes have to take water from various different sources around the region. Whatever the source, drinking water must meet very strict quality standards before it reaches our customers’ taps. We always advise anyone who keeps fish to follow expert advice regarding specific requirements their fish may have.”
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