On Tuesday, water samples were taken from the Sepa drinking water treatment plant in the southern Estonian town of Tartu during water quality monitoring, the results of which showed an increase in the content of coliform bacteria, the regional Tartu Postimees writes.
When investigating the reasons why the indicators were high, it was revealed that the suspected cause of the pollution of the input water of the Sepa drinking water treatment plant is a defective non-return valve in one of the boreholes.
The Sepa water intake provides nearly 10 percent of Tartu’s drinking water production, with Variku district, Tammelinn and Ranilinn affected. A small amount of residual bacteriological pollution may be present in these parts of the city. In these parts of the city, it is advisable to boil water before drinking.
Drinking contaminated water can cause vomiting, nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea or fever. In case of disease symptoms, a doctor should be contacted.
Water consumers in other areas of Tartu are not affected by this risk, but turbidity and pressure fluctuations may occur due to water diversion. The Sepa water intake has been disconnected from the drinking water system since Wednesday, water is provided from other water sources.
The previous monitoring analysis of the Sepa drinking water treatment plant took place on May 20, then the samples were fine.
The results of the monitoring analyses taken on Tuesday will be revealed on Thursday. Based on the information from the laboratory about increased content, preventive measures were already taken on Wednesday.
Source: BNS
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