Nokia water crisis eases

Many residents may have to boil drinking water for several weeks

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Residents in some parts of the city of Nokia may have to continue to boil their drinking water for several weeks, as the contamination of the city's water supply eases.
      On Saturday the total ban on the use of municipal water had been lifted, but people were told that water should be boiled for at least five minutes before drinking.
      Last week treated waste water leaked into the clean water supply, causing an extensive outbreak of stomach ailments.
     
An investigation into the incident has revealed that the contamination of the water supply had been caused by an error committed by an employee at the city's waste water treatment plant.
      The employee told the police what had happened, and is reportedly mortified at the implications of the mistake.
      The treatment plant employee had accidentally opened the wrong valve at about noon on November 28th during maintenance work. The mistake went undetected for two days.
      Police are now examining issues of responsibility as well as other technical details.
It remains to be seen how long it will be before unrestricted use of water is possible in Nokia. Samples are being taken constantly, and the situation will be assessed again on Monday.
      Meanwhile, efforts are continuing to clean the water mains to remove sediment from the inside of the pipes that might harbour viruses and bacteria.
     
The outbreak of stomach ailments appeared to ease in Nokia on Sunday, and Nokia residents appear to have been spared a feared second wave of stomach infections.
      The situation in the emergency room of the Nokia public health clinic had calmed down during the weekend, with an average of just ten patients being treated at any one time at the emergency room of the local public health clinic. At one point more than 50 at a time were being treated.
      Hundreds of people in Nokia had sought treatment for stomach symptoms since the contamination began.
      Although municipal water was declared safe to drink after boiling, distribution points for clean drinking water were still operating in different parts of the city over the weekend.
     
Malicious SMS messages had been sent in the name of the Nokia waterworks. The City of Nokia announced on its website on Saturday that the water utility does not send out information by SMS message.
      "I have learned of one kind of text message, according to which people should not flush their toilets. This kind of sick hooliganism can be dangerous if someone takes it seriously", said Pasi Virtanen, head of finances for the City of Nokia.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Contaminated water crisis continues in Nokia (7.12.2007)
  A thousand Nokia residents believed to have had symptoms after consuming contaminated drinking water (3.12.2007)

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