Westminster City Council has issued an apology to residents of Morgan House on the Lillington and Longmoor Gardens Estate in Pimlico after their tap water turned brown and developed a petrol-like odour. The issue, which began in April 2025, has left many tenants afraid to use the water, citing concerns over inadequate testing by the council.
Residents' Complaints and Health Concerns
In June 2025, residents told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that they had been dealing with foul water for two months and reported skin irritation and itchiness. Despite repeated assurances from council officers that the problem stemmed from Thames Water's supply, the water company stated that its tests on incoming water showed no abnormalities.
Ernest Stafford, a resident of the estate, expressed frustration following a meeting on July 7, 2025, where council officers promised a formal apology and comprehensive water testing. "No resident should ever smell a petrol-type substance in their tap water. Industry guidance says any hydrocarbon odour should trigger an immediate investigation," Stafford said. "Instead, residents spent a year doing the work themselves - we had to become Erin Brockovich while being blocked and brushed aside."
Council Response and Testing
Westminster City Council conducted statutory pH tests on the hot water supply in the plant room, which returned normal results. However, standard pH testing does not detect hydrocarbons. In June and July 2025, the council tested all three water supplies for hydrocarbons, and those tests also came back normal. Residents were told the discolouration was due to disrupted iron sediment in the tank.
Tenants have questioned the reliability of the council's hot water tests, noting that the samples were taken from an empty flat. The council has now agreed to carry out a full investigation into the cause of the smell and discolouration, as well as implement recommendations from the Housing Ombudsman, which found a "service failure" in handling the incident.
Ombudsman Findings and Political Reaction
The Housing Ombudsman report revealed that the landlord failed to log the brown water incident according to its housing emergency protocol and delayed reporting the event to the water company. Councillor Ed Pitt Ford, representing Pimlico North, praised the new administration for taking the matter seriously. "Residents not only had to put up with contaminated water but they then had to deal with refusals to carry out the appropriate testing, a dismissive attitude from all levels to their valid concerns and a complete absence of leadership," he said. "It's deeply upsetting to see the system that should protect people, close ranks and deny reality in an attempt to protect their reputation."
Next Steps
The council has committed to thorough testing of the building's water supplies to reassure residents and to identify the source of the contamination. Stafford added, "We just now need Westminster council to identify the cause of this contamination and establish how safe our water is going forward." The investigation aims to prevent a recurrence and restore trust in the water supply.
