Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Couple left with water ‘not even a dog could drink’ after work on Travellers site contaminates supply

Ron and Kathleen Jamieson's water supply was polluted when people living in the static caravans started digging in the neighbouring field. They feel like they've been ignored by the council.  CR0016797
26/11/19
Picture by KATH FLANNERY
Ron and Kathleen Jamieson's water supply was polluted when people living in the static caravans started digging in the neighbouring field. They feel like they've been ignored by the council. CR0016797 26/11/19 Picture by KATH FLANNERY

A north-east couple were left without safe water for months after work on a Travellers site left the supply so contaminated that “not even a dog could drink it”.

Ron and Kathleen Jamieson, of East Smallburn near Peterhead, last night relived the ordeal – which they say “caused a lot of stress” – and criticised the council for being “unresponsive” to their concerns.

The couple’s problems began in May when digging started for a three-pitch travellers site, which would allow parking spaces for up to six vehicles, on land next to their home.

Mr Jamieson said the preparatory works which caused the supply to become contaminated should “never have been allowed to happen in the first place” as the scheme was later scrapped on public safety grounds.

Their water was sampled that month by Aberdeenshire Council and the high iron content meant it failed to meet safety requirements for using.

Mr Jamieson said: “We’ve lived here for 23 years and we’ve never had problems like this before. It caused us a lot of stress that we really didn’t need to go through.

“Not even the dogs could drink the water.”

The couple had no alternative but to haul clean water to and from their daughter’s home about three miles away in Hatton.

From July to September, Mr and Mrs Jamieson also needed to visit their daughter in order to have a shower. A subsequent test of the water at their property during that time also found it unusable.

A water treatment vessel was later installed at the couple’s home, which has provided them with safe drinking water.

However, they claim the council “hasn’t been very responsive” to their calls and say they were only visited a few times during the saga.

A spokesman for Aberdeenshire Council said: “These matters relate to a private water supply and officers from our environmental health service have visited Mr and Mrs Jamieson on several occasions over a number of years to provide advice and guidance.

“In connection with the couple’s most recent concerns with regards to water quality, we can confirm we have conducted an investigation and are considering our next steps.

“Meanwhile, we have also recently approved a scheme which will enable the couple to improve their water supply with the aid of a Scottish Government grant.”