Most residents in York village told they can drink tapwater again

Yorkshire Water said today it had withdrawn its precautionary 'boil order' advice to residents in Elvington following a 'thorough sampling regime over the past few days.'

A spokesman said the exception was for residents in Derwent Close, who it was still advising to boil their water while investigations continues.

We’re working closely with those residents to get this resolved as soon as possible," he said.

“We’re satisfied we no longer need this precautionary measure for the vast majority of properties in the village and would like to thank everyone in Elvington for their patience while we’ve been investigating this issue.

"We know this has been disruptive, but we needed to be extra cautious to keep everyone safe.”

The Press reported earlier this week that residents in 600 properties were being asked to boil their tapwater before drinking it after bacteria was discovered in the water.

Yorkshire Water officials went door to door around the village, issuing 'boil orders' nd handing bottled water to customers with additional needs.

It said that during a routine test, it had 'found a potential issue' in the village but people could still use their water to wash, clean and flush their loo.

The spokesman said then:“We regularly check our drinking water to make sure it meets our high standards and during one of these routine tests we’ve found a potential issue in Elvington near York.

"While we investigate this, as a precaution we’re advising that customers who live in Elvington boil their water before drinking or using it for cooking.

“We’re sorry about this, but we’re taking the precautionary approach to keep everyone safe. We’re directly notifying the residents who are impacted, and we’ll be providing updates on our website.”

Asked what the 'issue' was, he said: "It’s bacteria, which is not normally harmful to health, but until we've done extra sampling we're taking this approach as a precaution.