Fury of hoteliers in water bug scare
By Sarah-Jane North
Hoteliers and restaurateurs in west Hertfordshire and north London are demanding full compensation from their local water company after mains supplies were contaminated by a parasitic bug.
Three Valleys Water last week told 300,000 householders in the area that they would receive just £10 compensation.
But the company has given no indication of the pay-outs businesses can expect to receive. Instead, it has said all claims will be dealt with "sympathetically" on an individual basis.
Sopwell House Hotel in St Albans, one of the areas hardest hit by the 16-day contamination, faces a £5,000 bill for the bottled water that had to be provided daily in every room for guests to clean their teeth.
"We also had to buy in ice and 3,000 bottles of soft drinks because we could not use the mixer system in the bar," said Jeffrey Ward, general manager of the 92-bedroom property.
Gerard Virlombier, general manager of the Noke Thistle hotel in St Albans, intends to invoice Three Valleys Water for the extra supplies he was forced to purchase. The current bill stands at nearly £600.
"We have incurred additional cost to enable us to continue to provide our guests with their requirements. We have been unable to use our ice, mixer and orange juice machines as all require fresh water," he wrote in a letter to the company.
Tim Hodges, deputy general manager of the Glen Eagle Hotel in Harpenden, said he would be seeking reimbursement of the £600 cost of buying in water and ice. The hotel also lost two large bookings as a result of the scare.
At the White House hotel in Watford, general manager Karen Wallis, who has to meet a bill running into thousands of pounds, is angry that she may not recover the full costs. "We should be entitled to our money back in full as we have not had access to our water through no fault of our own," she said.
Three Valleys Water has accepted no liability for the contamination by the bug cryptosporidium, which can cause severe diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.
"We recognise that commercial customers have had some complicated difficulties, but the company can make no admission of liability," said a spokeswoman.
