U.S. Water News Online
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- The Argentine city of Bahia Blanca has warned its 420,000 residents to avoid using tap water because it says it is laced with toxic bacteria that cause skin irritation and possibly neurological damage.
``I've worked here for 25 years and I'd say this is the worst water crisis I've ever seen here,'' city public health chief Ana Maria Reimers said.
Angry residents carrying banners reading ``This water is going to kill us'' protested in the streets of Bahia Blanca to demand government action.
Reimers said several cases of skin rashes had been linked to the water. She quoted medical literature as saying the bacteria caused skin irritation in the short term and if consumed in large enough quantities could cause neurological damage.
Bahia Blanca, 420 miles southwest of Buenos Aires, is Argentina's main petrochemical production base and a leading agricultural center.
Residents first noticed a bad smell in their tap water on April 10. Municipal official are still waiting for test results they requested from the city's water supply company, Azurix Buenos Aires SA, an Enron Corp. unit.
``The situation is not of Azurix's making. It's a result of the poor quality of water supplied by the provincial government's reservoir and dam,'' Azurix managing director of technical operations Richard Lacey said.
``Between April 16 and April 22 there has been a taste and odor problem but the water has always been safe to drink,'' said Lacey.
Water regulators and provincial public works officials went to the Azurix water treatment plant in Bahia Blanca to test the water, city and company officials said.
``We are following the... situation very closely and we've rejected the public works plan the company presented to the government of Buenos Aires province. If it's necessary, we'll revoke their concession,'' provincial Public Works Minister Julian Dominguez told Telam news agency in Bahia Blanca.
The municipal government urged residents to drink bottled water, limit the time they spend in the shower or bath, and not brush their teeth with tap water.
``It smells and tastes like a pesticide. When you take a hot shower, the odor is overwhelming,'' city spokesman Carlos Rossi said. But he said it was unlikely that petrochemical plants were the source of the contamination. Reimers said the source of contamination could be the farmland through which the canal bringing the city's water from distant wells flows.
She and Rossi said the bacteria outbreak may also have arisen if a heavy dose of chlorine had been added to the water to counter any seasonal increase in algae.
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