Northern Ireland Water and the Public Health Agency have part-lifted a boil notice in the Ballymoney town area, which has been in place for the past week, but the issue is still not fully resolved.
NI Water carries out at least 120,000 water quality tests every year and its policy is always to err on the side of caution
A quality issue was identified earlier this month, prompting the company to issue a boil notice on November 8, advising more than 3,000 affected customers to boil all water for food preparation, drinking and eating.
While the company lifted the notice for more than 1,900 homes yesterday, some 1,300 households are still being advised to boil all water for consumption and food prep. It is thought the notice will remain in place for at least the next few days
The quality problem was caused by water mains renovation work in the area when soil got into the distribution system. NI Water head of quality and compliance Dymphna Gallagher, said the issue had taken longer than expected to resolve, because of the size and complexity of the network, and its rural location.
She explained that while, “test results are showing a significantly improving picture”, NI Water was “erring on the side of caution” until they could be sure water quality had returned to normal levels.