Tests carried out on the water supply to residents in sheltered accommodation for the elderly in Lawford have proved negative for lead.

Tendring District Council (TDC), which is responsible for the Honeycroft Sheltered Housing Scheme, brought in Tendring Hundred Water Services to carry out the tests.

They followed concerns raised by one of the tenants who was worried about the quality of the water supply to his flat.

Original tests revealed a one-off isolated failure which indicated lead levels of 91 micrograms per litre in the sample. The permitted level is 25 micrograms.

A further 20 samples were checked at various locations throughout the building on Thursday (May 21, 2009). Of these 19 showed no lead, while one gave a minimal trace of 3.77 micrograms.

Previous tests on the mains water supply to the building had proved negative.

The source of the lead in the isolated one-off sample remains a mystery and further investigations are continuing to find out where it came from, and to ensure the supply remains lead free.

Steven Henderson, TDC's Portfolio Holder for Housing, said that it was likely that further tests will be made - and any further work considered necessary will be undertaken.

"The Council has met with the tenant who raised the concerns last week and discussed the results with him," he said.

"Staff have also spoken to other residents who will be kept up to date over the situation and any developments by letter."

There are 37 people living in Honeycroft and last week TDC provided 480 two litre bottles of drinking water to those living in the building to make sure that anybody who was unhappy to drink their tap water had a free alternative on hand.

The Council has always maintained there was no reason why the tenants should not drink water from the tap but wanted to provide total peace of mind.

During the course of taking the samples Tendring Hundred Water Services discovered that there was an issue concerning the warmth of the drinking water at certain outlets in Honeycroft.

The Council will now be working with its own Environmental Services team to resolve this and bring the water down to a satisfactory temperature.

27/5/09