Dangrigans return to river water
After nearly a week of drinking well water Dangrigans are once again enjoying the taste of the North Stann Creek. Tests by WASA on Tuesday confirmed that the contamination caused by an overflow of citrus waste ponds upstream had dissipated and the water was now safe for public consumption. WASA Public Relations Officer Harry Bennett explained that after the first pollution incident in June, his officers in Dangriga were quicker to react.
Harry Bennett, Public Relations Officer, WASA
“This time our water treatment operators were more alert and we switched even quicker than the first time. Meaning that less of the water with the scent was in the system. In the first instance when it happened we weren’t able to conduct or gather samples that could be tested conclusively at the height at when we had the problem.”
“However with the second incident we managed to get samples at the height of the incidence and our tests reveal that the river had a very high acidic content. We understand that since then Del Oro has taken some responsibility for the contamination. I understand linking it to some over flooding in their ponds, where they discharge citrus waste. We kept the Dangriga system for about five days on the well water. Until we were sure the river water was back to normal.”
While the river may be back to normal, according to Dangrigans the taste of the well water was anything but. Mayor Cassian Nunez told us that he had received many complaints from residents that the well water tasted salty and that a small number of people had been treated for stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. While the mayor attributes these ailments to the drinking of contaminated water, Bennett disagrees.
Harry Bennett
“During the time we were using the well water. Dangrigans we understand complained of the salty taste of the water, outbreaks of diarrhea and so on. We ran tests on the well water which we used in the interim and we found the water to be safe, to have met all of the World Health Organisation’s standards for safety and quality. However, the water from the well, when we ran tests to measure hardness, has shown to be harder than the river water. The water, however, is not unsafe it just has a hardness content, meaning it has more dissolved solutes such as chloride and so on. Presently we are back on the river water and the complaints of bad taste and saltiness have disappeared.”
Over the course of today WASA has been flushing the well water out of the town’s system using the river water. In the long run, concerns remain over how to deal with the problem of citrus waste and the supply of safe drinking water to Dangriga.
