YOUR tap water might look like you've just washed the dog in it, but don't be a drip and stay dry.

If you drink it you'll definitely live to tell the tail ... and that's official!

Now, in a bid to clean up its act, North West Water is taking action to improve the Fylde's murky water supplies by undertaking an intensive mains flushing programme.

North West Water's territory manager for the Fylde, Jeff Chambers, explained: "The problem of discoloured water has arisen because of the continuing drought and the need to bring water from different sources to ensure essential supplies of water to the area.

"To do this, we have sometimes had to reverse the flow of water in the mains, which has disturbed any deposits lying in the bottom of the pipes."

Mr Chambers, continued: "I apologise to those customers affected by discoloured water, but while the water may look unpleasant, I can assure customers the supply has not been contaminated in any way and poses absolutely no health risk.

"We are still continuing to take regular samples of water and sharing the results with the local environmental health office who are satisfied that the water being supplied is not causing any health problems."

He added:"We are trying to alleviate the problem as quickly as possible, but it cannot be done overnight."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.