Contaminated water crisis continues in Nokia

Military distributes clean drinking water as some families flee city

print this

The public health clinic in the town of Nokia, just outside Tampere had the appearance of the aftermath of a major disaster on Thursday, with exhausted patients in beds extending to the corridors. The patients had fallen ill from drinking tap water which had been tainted by treated sewage following a mishap at the city's water works earlier in the week.
      Officials say that a valve had been left open between Wednesday and Friday last week, allowing at least 400,000 litres of treated waste water to enter the Nokia water supply.
     
By Monday thousands of residents were coming down with stomach ailments. Many of those suffering from diarrhea drank more water to alleviate their symptoms before people realised that the water itself was the cause of the problem. The contamination of the municipal water supply is affecting about 25,500 local residents.
      It was not until Sunday that warnings on water quality were distributed directly to Nokia households. Before that, there was information only in the local media and on the city's website.
     
On Tuesday it appeared that the situation was improving, but the following night there was a break in the city's key water main, which stirred up sediment in the pipeline, leading to a complete ban on the use of water. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health asked the Finnish Defence Forces to help in the situation
      On Thursday units of the Finnish Defence Forces came in to secure distribution of clean drinking water to local residents. The Defence Forces were helped by the Finnish Red Cross and the Volunteer Rescue Service.
      The military is ready to assist in water distribution at least through Monday - possibly longer. Water is being distributed at 18 locations from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
      Long queues formed at the water distribution points on Thursday morning, but by ten in the morning many were on their second visit.
      Pharmacies had run out of hand disinfectant, reported Helsingin Sanomat journalist Hanna Eriksson.
     
People were queueing for supplies of clean water at the various distribution points, holding buckets, canisters, and water bottles. There was a notice at a the check-out of a local supermarket warning residents not to use tap water for cooking. Consequently, ready-made foods started to run out. Bottled water ran out much earlier, but new supplies were expected.
      The water in the pools at the spa hotel Eden did not show a ripple, as the establishment was closed already in the morning when notice came of the ban on using city water. The local brewery has also shut down production until clean water becomes available.
     
Another rupture of a water pipe took place on Thursday, a day after a break in a different part of the same pipe had been repaired.
      The ban on using municipal water is extending at least through Friday, and possibly past the weekend.
     
On Thursday evening, about ten patients suffering from diarreah were still being cared for at the public health clinic. Patients have tested positive for salmonella, the noro virus, and campylobacter.
      "Nothing will stay inside. Everything makes me nauseous, and I can't even drink", says local resident Marja Airaniemi, who is on an intravenous drip.
     
The situation in Nokia has raised concern over the situation at other municipal water facilities. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Finnish Water and Waste Water Works Association are sending a letter to water works around Finland urging them to assess the likelihood of similar events at their utilities.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  A thousand Nokia residents believed to have had symptoms after consuming contaminated drinking water (3.12.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat