Contamination scare as water turns blue at Leeds hospital

Three patients had their operations postponed after the scare over contamination of the water at Chapel Allerton Hospital.

Bottled water had to be used for drinking and washing after staff noticed the supply had turned light blue at 7am yesterday.

The problem was found to be harmless after scientific tests were carried out during the day.

The water was switched back on in the afternoon, but bottled water was being provided for drinking for a further 24 hours.

A spokesman for Leeds Teaching Hospitals said: “We apologise unreservedly to patients for the distress that may have been caused by this unforeseeable problem and we give a commitment to reschedule where possible within 30 days any operation that had to be postponed.”

He said that after the discolouration was noticed, the internal supply was turned off and bottled water provided.

“Engineers from the trust and from Yorkshire Water found the cause of the discolouration was earlier maintenance work on a cold water tank.

“There was no harmful contamination of the water and the supply was turned on again at around 4pm.”

He added: “There was no risk to patients but there was some disruption to care as patients could not be washed between these times.

“Unfortunately, three planned operations had to be postponed and we are in the process of rescheduling those procedures.”