People living on a Moray estate have been told to stop drinking their tap water unless they boil it first.
Moray Council issued a notice to people living on the the Cabrach and Glenfiddich Estate following sample failures.
It includes a note telling vulnerable residents to avoid the supply altogether, and drink bottled water instead.
The estate is understood to still be owned by Dr Christopher Moran, a wealthy London businessman.
The 48,000 acre estate is located south of Dufftown.
‘Supplies do not meet required parameters of water quality’
Regular testing is carried out at more than 800 water supplies across Moray.
The results can be affected by the recent weather and other seasonal factors.
A spokeswoman for Moray Council said: “We can confirm we’ve issued a notice to some households on private water supplies within the estate where the samples do not meet the required parameters of water quality.
“We are working closely with the estate representative, who is being fully co-operative and working constructively to meet the advice given by specialist environmental health officers.”
Work to fix the issue is ongoing but no timeframe for when it will be safe to drink again has been offered.
The spokeswoman added: “This notice advises residents on the supply to boil their water before use, and vulnerable residents to drink bottled water as a precautionary measure while improvements to the water supply are being undertaken.
‘It needs to be sorted’
A source close to the estate claimed some residents have had to deal with dirty water for months.
They said: “It needs to be sorted. When the water comes into the properties it comes in black, brown or grey.
“This issue has been going on for a long time.”
A similar warning was issued to the people of Gourdon, Aberdeenshire last summer.
Scottish Water put a ‘boil notice’ alert in place on a precautionary basis after routine sampling from a service reservoir in the area identified the water did not meet “the usual microbiological standards in the water network serving the area”.
Residents were told not to drink tap water unless it had been boiled – but could continue to use it for bathing and washing clothes and dishes.
Around 250 homes were affected but the water was declared safe to drink a few days later.
Dr Moran and the estate did not respond to requests from the Press and Journal for comment.