Green tap water is safe to drink, says supplier

RESIDENTS reporting green-coloured water coming from their taps in the New Milton and Christchurch areas have been reassured of its safety.

The water, said to have a noticeably “green or yellow tinge”, has been tainted by recent heavy rainfall.

A spokesperson for Bournemouth Water told the A&T: “We’d like to apologise to customers in the Christchurch and BH25 (New Milton) area who may have noticed a slight change in the colour of their tap water.

“This has been caused by the recent heavy rainfall, which has resulted in increased colour in the river that supplies Knapp Mill Water Treatment Works.”

Concerns about the green water were circulating on a New Milton Facebook page, with residents in New Milton, Mudeford, Hordle, Milford and Ashley also reporting problems.

One concerned resident from Everton wrote: “Our water was so green on Friday we decided not to bath our kids in it.”

Another commented: “Bath looked green yesterday in Wainsford Road. I put down to the green reflection from tiles but thought it was odd that I’d never noticed it before. Water out of the tap looks okay though.

A New Milton resident said: “It’s definitely a yellowish green. I only noticed it when running in a bigger volume and against the white of the bath!”

The spokesperson for Bournemouth Water said the situation should improve over the next few days, adding: “Monitoring has indicated that the colour in the raw and treated water is now improving and should return to normal in the next few days.

“We’d like to reassure customers that we are monitoring the situation closely and that the water is fine to continue to use as normal.”