John Lewis provides bottled water in real estate, polluting villages supply
John Lewis was forced to provide residents of Hampshire villages with bottled water worth months after fertilizer pollution made local supplies unsafe to drink.
Over the past four months, the retailer has transported bottled water to a home near Andover, a 2,800-acre farm John Lewis owned since 1929 after testing showing high levels of nitrate from drinking water drawn from its Leckford Estate.
The estate, known as the “White Rose Farm”, produces fruits and other goods for the supermarket. About half of the homes in Longstock provide water directly from the site.
Nitrates are widely used in fertilizers and can seep into groundwater when rainfall is flushed out of the soil. Increased concentrations of drinking water reduce the blood’s ability to carry oxygen, and special risks to babies and babies who may develop “blue infant syndrome” and pregnant women.
Local authorities told villagers that they could continue to drink tap water only if they were replenished with bottled supplies. It has been recommended that expectant mothers and young children not consume tap water at all.
Leckford Estate has installed a new filtration system in its drill holes, partially fed by river tests, but the problem is expected to last at least a month while testing continues.
“Unfortunately, the presence of nitrates is a national issue. We have regularly contacted residents when installing the new system and provided free bottled water. As a long-term solution, we are exploring options to connect Longstock to local water providers.”
The government has previously warned that rising nitrate levels across England are related to long-term drying, planting changes and more fertilizer use. More than half of the countries are now classified as “nitrate fragile zones” and require additional monitoring.
Nearly 30% of the water in the aquifers, rather than the water produced by the river, must now be treated or mixed to meet safety standards.
Leckford pollution is in a wider water quality review. The supply of southern water in the surrounding area caused 15 serious pollution incidents last year.
A comparable incident occurred in Bramley, Surrey, when a gasoline spill at the Asda filling station forced Thames water to issue a “don’t drink” order and allocate bottled water to residents.
