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.

Schools shut and thousands in Outer Hebrides told to stop using tap water due to ‘oily taste’

More than 1,000 homes and businesses have been affected.

Scottish Water van
Scottish Water has now lifted the water restriction notice in Benbecula. Image: Scott Baxter/DC Thomson

Residents of South Uist and Benbecula have been advised not to use their tap water following reports of an oily taste and smell.

Scottish Water issued the water alert at 5.30pm today after residents reported a strange odour and taste in their water.

Customers in Benbecula and northern South Uist have been urged to stop using tap water for drinking, cooking or washing. This includes boiled water.

Several schools and facilities will be closed on Thursday due to the issue.

The alert has been issued as a precaution following reports of oily water.

More than 1,000 homes and businesses served by Benbecula Water Treatment Works have been affected.

How are residents impacted?

Scottish Water said the source of the issue has been located and isolated but it could take some days to resolve.

A limited supply of bottled water is being distributed to customers on Scottish Water’s priority service register.

More will be arriving this evening and will be delivered overnight to customer’s homes.

Bottled water
Bottled water is being distributed. Image: Darrell Benns/ DC Thomson.

Plans are also in place to deploy “pop-up” water tanks. Updates will be provided.

Those impacted are being advised to follow these arrangements until they can safely return to using their water supply.

Due to the alert, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar said several schools and facilities will be closed on Thursday, September 14.

These include Balivanich School and Nursery, Iochdar School and Nursery, Sgoil Lionacleit, Lionacleit Education Centre and Lionacleit Sports Centre and library.

A spokesman for the Western Isles Council added: “The continuing impact of the water quality issues on services will be monitored during the course of tomorrow and arrangements for Friday, September 15 will be confirmed in due course.

Water samples are being analysed

Drinking water samples have been taken and are currently being analysed.

Scottish Water said they are liaising closely with the consultant in public health medicine at NHS Western Isles. This is normal practice in cases of concern about drinking water quality.

A spokesman said: “We take any reports of changes to the quality of our drinking water very seriously – and would like to thank customers who reported their concerns.

“Our team is working hard to ensure that all affected customers are informed and supported.

“Samples have been collected for analysis at our specialist laboratories as a matter of urgency.

“In the meantime customers should not use their water supply for drinking, cooking or washing – although it can still be used to flush toilets.

“We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause while we investigate and extensively flush the water system, before taking further samples until we can be confident the water is of the quality that our customers expect.”

The company added they will continue to provide regular updates on their website and by distributing notices in the affected area.

Anyone in need of additional support can sign up to their priority services register by calling their helpline 0800 077 8778.

Conversation