Dirty tap water after Thames Water pipe works in Weston-on-the-Green

Mark Goodall does not know whether he will get a glass of clear or murky water from his taps while Thames Water carry out work to water mains in Weston-on-the-Green.

Although Thames Water says it has now completed these works, which started three weeks ago, a much wider project on other water mains will continue in the coming months.

The pipe works proved to be a pain for Mr Goodall as ‘brown filthy water” had been running out of his taps as a result.

The 58-year-old said: “The dirty water coming out of the taps isn’t consistent – that’s what makes it worse. You never know when you're going to get clean or dirty water.”

A worm came out of his tap last week, landing in his bath, and he complained to Thames Water three times.

He said: “I spoke to a case worker but nothing has changed. Bank holiday weekend was the worst for us with dirty water constantly running out of our taps.”

Mr Goodall has lived in the village for three years now and said he has never experienced anything like this before.

“It’s totally undrinkable and it’s even wrecked my neighbour’s fridge and boiler.”

Thames Water said it is investigating the matter and says there are no health risks but “appreciates the discolouration of the water is off-putting.”

Nick Adams, water regulation and public health manager for Thames Water said: “We’re sorry to the small number of our customers who have had intermittent problems with their water.

“Those who have reported problems have been contacted by our water quality experts and after running the tap for a few minutes and allowing a short time for the water in their pipes to settle, it has cleared.”

The company says it is possible that the work on the pipes has disturbed iron particles, which are present in drinking water and are the cause of the discolouration.

Mr Adams added: “We take water quality extremely seriously and are investigating the cause of this issue. In recent days we’ve taken a number of water samples for analysis by scientists in our laboratory which show no signs of any bacteria or harmful substances.”