Poison Water: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
The story of Britain's biggest mass poisoning, in Cornwall, 1988
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
This is a detailed examination of Britain's biggest mass poisoning and the mismanagement and cover-up that ensued. In July 1988, some 20,000 residents in north Cornwall drank tap water contaminated with gallons of aluminium sulphate, a product used for purification that includes undiluted sulphuric acid.
It was as bad as it sounds, with witness testimony describing water that was blue 'like what you put down the loo' as it stripped the copper from the pipes that carried it into homes. If that wasn't bad enough, the word from South West Water was that the water was safe to drink, despite reports of it burning and injuring those who drank or bathed in it.
Local man Doug Cross, a chemist and self-described 'citizen scientist' is one of the heroes of this story. Like Alan Bates from the Post Office scandal, he, and others, fought for justice as long-term health effects started to emerge. Yet unlike Alan Bates, that justice has not been fully forthcoming.
It's a story that will resonate depressingly with viewers given the current state of our water companies. (77 minutes)
