FAMILIES with disabled children have been left miserable because of brown pungent water in their homes staining washing, sinks and baths.

There are thought to be at least 10 households affected in Harley Place and Brown Place, with families having to pay to get their washing done because the water stains their clothes.

Some residents claim to have had dirty water coming out of their taps as far back as April, despite numerous complaints to Scottish Water and Environmental Health.

Mum Catriona McBlane contacted Environmental Health, who tested her water and failed it for iron levels.

She said: “It’s terrible. The water failed, but Environmental Health say it shouldn’t be harmful to health. At one point the water was brown. I was scared to bath the kids in it. My kettle is orange inside, all the seals in the bathroom will have to be redone and the council are coming out to empty my tank in case the dirty water’s affected it.

“I have a young child and a disabled child, and they can honestly tell me it’s not harmful? I would think in this day and age you should have access to clean water.”

Donna Curran, a mum of a disabled son, added: “It’s absolutely disgusting, a nightmare. They just keep palming us off. We’ve been offered an inspection, but I don’t know what that’s going to do. The water is bright orange.

“I switched on the shower and I thought what is that smell? It was coming from the tap. It was like sewage. All the tiles are stained orange. What if my son becomes ill? I don’t know what’s in it.

“They haven’t even tested it properly, they haven’t taken samples and they’re giving us all generic emails – do they not know that neighbours talk?”

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “We have carried out tests on the water and it failed on iron and turbidity levels. We sent the lab reports to Scottish Water and they are carrying out further analysis and trying to find a resolution to the issue.”

A Scottish Water spokesperson added: “We are aware that this customer is experiencing discoloured water from her taps and we apologise for any inconvenience. We are doing everything possible to resolve the issue.

“We will take further water samples for analysis and we are providing the customer with bottled water. We are also prioritising this area for flushing operations to remove this discolouration.”