A new BBC Two documentary shines a spotlight on one of North Cornwall’s most shocking environmental disasters — the 1988 water poisoning that affected thousands of households across the region including Boscastle.
What started as an error at a treatment works resulted in residents unknowingly consuming water with aluminium levels vastly exceeding safe limits. It remains the largest mass water contamination incident in British history, and for many of those impacted, the health consequences and unanswered questions have lasted decades.
The programme takes viewers back to the events of that summer and explores how the crisis unfolded against the backdrop of the impending privatisation of the water industry. Some historic scenes of the village and Camelford feature within the commentary. Newly revealed documents raise troubling questions about whether concerns over market confidence and corporate sale prices influenced how the incident was handled at the time.
Now, 37 years later — with water companies regularly in the headlines for pollution, sewage discharges, rising bills and executive bonuses — the film revisits the roots of the industry we know today. Featuring first-hand testimonies from local people, scientific experts and former officials, it offers a compelling and at times unsettling look at a chapter of Cornish history that still resonates.
Click here to watch Poison Water available to watch now on BBC iPlayer until November 2026.
