Urgent work is being carried out after a water company inspected the plumbing of the barge, which is moored in Portland, Dorset, the Guardian has learned.
CTM, the Home Office's contractor, has been given an eight-week deadline by Wessex Water to ensure the barge, which is intended to house up to 500 people, complies with the legal requirements of the Water Supply Regulations (1999).
It is understood that the Home Office plans to move asylum seekers back before the repairs are completed. The Home Office said the plumbing work was "scheduled and routine", and not connected to the discovery of the potentially deadly legionella bacteria, which caused the barge to be evacuated this month.
But this was contradicted by Wessex Water, which said it had been prompted by the discovery of the bacteria. "After legionella was reported, we worked with the local authority and conducted an inspection of the water fittings on 23 August," a spokesperson for the company said.
Separately, Dorset council's public health team have run new tests for the legionella bacteria in the barge's water system. The results of this are expected imminently.
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