Severn Trent bosses have vowed to make improvements so Oswestry residents can ditch their filters and bottled water in favour of water straight from the tap after complaints about its quality.

David Essex, water strategy manager, made the vow after spending three days in the town speaking to residents who are furious about the quality of the supply following a switch from the Welsh hills to the River Severn.

Mr Essex said complaints have included the smell of chlorine and hardness after talking to about 150 people at drop-in sessions and visiting about 25 homes.

He said: “I felt a lot of passion. There has been a lot of anger and frustration. Clearly different things are happening in different parts of the town. Top of the list was a lot of chlorine. That’s definitely something we can do something about. We already reduced the chlorine about a year ago but there is more we can do on that.”

Other comments have included black bits and cloudy water, he said.

“I suspect that is probably to do with some of the old corroded mains we have got,” he said.

“Over the next 18 months or so we are planning to do quite a lot of mains renewal in the centre of town to repair the badly corroded pipes.

“We are very keen to work with the local community to work out when the best time of year is to do it.”

Mr Essex said there was also a “background taste” to the water in some areas and the taste of tea was “quite metallic” in some places, which he will explore.

But he added: “People are talking about the hardness of the water. I can understand that and empathise but we are not planning on changing the hardness of the water. I have been trying to give out advice to handle the hardness.”

In two weeks, a new groundwater source at Nesscliffe will come on line to blend with the current supply from Shelton, and Severn Trent is also working to reduce the chlorine.

“We can’t promise to solve all the taste issues immediately but this should make a significant difference,” he said.

By Suzanne Roberts