Bottles have been given out after a fault at a water treatment works
Thousands of bottles of water have been distributed to schools and nursing homes in Greater Manchester after a fault at a water treatment works.
About 17,000 properties in Tameside and Saddleworth have been affected since Sunday by a "technical fault" on equipment, United Utilities said.
The firm added the flaw had been fixed, but some untreated water had entered the local pipe network.
Residents have been told to boil drinking water until further notice.
A United Utilities spokesman, external said the advice was "precautionary" and was "expected to remain in place for at least the next 48 hours".
He said more than 170,000 bottles of water had been made available to schools and other priority customers such as nursing homes.
United Utilities teams have been flushing water through their pipe network
The firm said it was waiting for all the results from testing and sampling at Buckton Water Treatment Works to confirm the quality of tap water was "back to normal".
In the meantime, water should be boiled for drinking, food preparation and brushing of teeth.
Customers can continue to use tap water for general domestic purposes such as bathing and flushing toilets.
If the water looks dirty or cloudy, the company recommends waiting until the water has cleared before washing clothes.
'Massive, unchecked assumption'
United Utilities said that customers would receive compensation automatically this week, external.
Stalybridge resident Lawrence Tate said the firm did not do enough to tell people about the fault and that all the updates had been online.
"A lot of old people don't go on the net. You would imagine they would come around warning people," he said.
Mary Shaw in Carrbrook, Stalybridge, only found out when she got a text from her son in Saudi Arabia who had seen the warning online.
"If I hadn't have received that, I wouldn't have known at all and we didn't get any official notification from United Utilities until about 20:00 last night when we got a card put through the door," she said.
She said it was "a disgrace" the company was "making a massive, unchecked assumption that people can and will be accessing" the information online.
Martin Padley from United Utilities said the firm tried to get the message out quickly using a mix of traditional media - like postcards through doors, social media, mobile phone texts and broadcast media.
- Published11 December 2016
