This article is from the Ukrainian newspaper Kafa, May 23-24, 2007, #58:
Feodosians were dissuaded from
drinking tap water
Feodosian citizens oftentimes complain about the water quality at their homes, - bad smell, turbidity, rust and even sometimes insects’ larva in it. Kafa decided to investigate how truthful the complaints are / For the investigation, samples of water were taken from people’s apartments in various parts of Feodosia and taken to three different laboratories. The tests have proven that the water does not comply with the State Certified Standard 2874-82 – "Drinking water". Moreover, different labs reveled different deviations from the norm. Kafa asked ecologists and doctors to comment on the test results and they claim Feodosian water is the one that doesn’t comply with norm and cannot be called ‘drinking water’, but the utility company disagrees.
In order to conduct an investigation, Kafa went to three laboratories, - Sudak sanitary-epidemiological station lab, the Deodosia Ecological station lab and a lab in the Crimean Ecological Association "Ecology and World". In the first two labs, there was an obligatory condition we had to follow - the samples should be taken by a lab specialist. For the samples, we decided to use tap water of apartments from four different city districts on the streets Stroyitelnaya, Morsad, Pervuchyna and from the city center. We took samples of Morsad and city center water to Sudak lab. Water samples from Pervychyna and Stroyitelnaya streets were taken to the Simferopol lab. Both ecological station labs conducted two tests on the water samples: chemical and sanitary – micro-biological ones. In Simferopol they did chemical and organoleptical tests (showing the amount of organic compounds of chlorine in the water).
We were planning to take fill up sample jars with water right from the faucet, but the lab workers prevented us from that, claiming that according to State Standards, ‘drinking water" (norm #2874-82) is the taken after the water has run from the faucet for 15 minutes. Our argument that people do not normally let water run for 15 minutes, especially since people now have water meters, did not work.
The head of the Community Hygiene Department of the Feodosia sanitary-epidemiological station Larisa Sharlay explained to Kafa that water must run for 10-15 minutes before a sample is taken for the testing. But people do not need to do it all the time, since mud gets into water only after a long-term switch off of the water supply.
The test results of all three labs turned out to be similar, - with a few deviations from the State Norm. Turbidity was evaluated differently by all three labs. According to the Sudak lab, it was within norms, but Simferopol and Feodosia ones found that it was 2.2 – 2.5 and 3 milligrams while the norm is 1.5 mg. The sanitary micro-biological test differed as well: while in Sudak they found a deviation from the norm in access of colon bacillus, the Feodosia lab claimed that according to a bacteriological test the water is entirely within the norm.
At the Simferopol lab, they found excessive color indicators in one sample and an insignificant amount of fluorides (their concentration in water was 3.3 times lower than the lower verge of the physiological norm) in both samples.
How dangerous is chlorine?
The water supplied to Feodosia is chlorinated. It is done to kill the bacteria and viruses in it. Head of the Ecological NGO "Mama-86-Feodosia" Antonina Kovalchyk told us that up until 1974 it was regarded to be safe for the water to be chlorinated. However, later it was proven to be false:
- New research has shown that some compounds are created in the water while it is chlorinated (Chloroform, dibro-chlor-methane, bromine-chlor-methane, etc), increasing the potential risk of acquiring cancer of the liver, kidneys, urinary bladder and intestines, - said A. Kovalchuk.
Moreover, they badly influence a woman’s body while they are pregnant and the fetus is developing. The vapor of the galomethanes easily gets through the lungs and skin into blood vessels and spreads throughout the whole body easily. Therefore it is not recommended to spend a lot of time taking a bath or showering.
L. Sharlay is not sure that it is the drinking water that causes various diseases in people.
- There have been a lot of research done, but on animals, so it is hard to state how it affects people. Many factors influence this – ethe nvironment, life style of an individual and water quality. Yes, chlorination is harmful, but I would not say that it is the one thing that caused any illnesses.
There is no alternative to chlorine yet
Antonina Kovalchuk stressed that the biggest amount of chor-methanes is concentrated in water at the time of extra chlorination and exceeds the allowed norm by many times.
Lidiya Demeshina noted that in many countries they refuse to use chlorination for water purification purposes, and they use selenium. N. Tyutyunnikova agreed on the point that chlorination is harmful for health and is not the best way to disinfect the water, but stated that there is no other alternative for Feodosia. L Sharlay agreed on the point completely. She added that regardless of how dangerous chlorine is - it is still the best killer for various bacteria, like colon bacillus.
- There is a very well worked out system of chlorination of water. Professionals, before putting chlorine in the water, determine its amount very carefully. – said L Sharlay.
Deputy Head of the Water Supply Department of the Crimean Housing and Communal Services Amet Mamutov also agrees that cases of over-chlorination are not possible.
Simferopol lab specialists checked the water according to some perimeters not mentioned in state standards, but the ones that are in the Sanitary Rules and Norms: chloroform, dibro-chlor-methane and others. This time the results satisfied the lab workers – chlorine organics in the Feodosian water turned out to be low, whereas the results from previous years were unsatisfying – dangerous dibro-chlor-methane was found in great quantities in the water as seen in the chart. There was more of it during the summer, especially in April. In 2006 Simferopol lab workers got the following water test results: in June – 10 micrograms, July – 15, August – 13, April - 56.3 mkg per liter, whereas the norm is 10.
Aleksey Zakharovich:
- Of course the quality is bad or poor. The purification of water is bad in the first place. The water is oily and you can feel or taste admixture. It is especially seen when the water settles, there is sediment. We had to buy a filter since you cannot really use the tap water.
Aleksandr:
- The water sediment is horrible. I tried to buy filtered water in the store, but sometimes I drink tap water. About 15-20 years ago, the water was good. I guess since that time, all the purification facilities haven’t been changed; they’re old now. Even if some purification is done now, the quality cannot be as good as the systems are worn out. That’s why the water is so bad.
Why are rusty pipes dangerous?
So water pipe damage in Feodosia is not rare. The administration of the water supply department does not even try to conceal the fact that accidents happen on a daily basis, however except for fixing minor holes; the organization does not have the means to do more. The water supply department, sanitary epidemiological station, and the Ministry of Community Housing’s management is all claiming that Feodosian water pipes are in critical condition. They are practically 80% worn out, which leads to many leaks and contamination of drinking water.
- E. Berezovskiy says, "If the pressure in the pipes is high enough, everything is OK, but as soon as the pressure decreases, and vents help pump the water up. If later on the pressure goes up again, everything that lived and was growing gets into the drinking water. There is nothing the water supply department can do. They cannot give more chlorine and the problem remains that no matter how much chlorine they put in there, many bacteria, simple organisms and most viruses still live in the water.
Specialists think that it is because of the worn out pipes. During an experiment carried out by Kafa, in one water sample, sanitary epidemiological station workers found colon bacillus. The pipe networks within the buildings are not very good. In the basements, the pipes are leaking and sometimes, the sewage system leaks as well.
- Amet Mamutov explained, "Secondary contamination of the pipes comes through pores in the pipe network.
Larisa Sharlay, on the other hand, noted that excessive amounts of bacteria found by the Sudak Lab, the sanitary epidemiological station, is still within the normal degree of error and is not regarded to be a deviation from the norm.
Specialists say that rust is harmful. Last spring and summer, when water was supplied according to a schedule rusty water often ran from the faucet. So the head of the water supply department reassured citizens that rust is not harmful and the water is drinkable. Antonina Kovalchuk, however, says that when iron gets into the human body regularly over a period of time, excessive amounts are stored in the liver and damages its cells.
Out of all three labs that Kafa brought the samples to, only the Simferopol laboratory did the test and its workers did not find any excess of iron in the drinking water.
Turbidity: Norm Deviation
Color: Norm Deviation
Fluorides: Norm Deviation
Bacteria: Norm Deviation
The tested samples requested by Kafa deviated from the norms. Thus, the drinking water in Feodosia’s turbidity is over the limit by 1.5 times, color is also above the limit. Fluorides in the water, on the contrary, are insufficient. Additionally, in one of the samples, lab workers found a greater amount of colon bacillus bacteria.
State standards are not perfect
Not just once, Kafa cited the head of the water supply department, Vekhat Nalbantov, that tap water qualifies as drinkable. Larisa Sharlay is convinced of the opposite.
- "It is better not to drink tap water, because as far as bacteria content is concerned our water is safe for drinking, but the chemical composition is not. The water is dirty.
Feodosian doctors claim that the water is dangerous.
- City onocologist Georgiy Sviridov says, "The rate of people getting diseases in the city is rising constantly. I assure you that the healthy condition of our citizens depends directly on water quality. For example, at the primary stage of cancer prevention, we must consider the quality of drinking water, working conditions, an individual’s awareness about such diseases and how to treat them.
G. Sviridov considers the harmful particles in the drinking water to be what caused the increased rates of cancer in the stomach, intestines and urinary systems.
Regardless of all those claims, water in Crimea rarely is out of line with state standards for "drinking water," set in 1982. The reason for that, as ecologists say, is that state standards are inadequate. Eduard Berezovskiy explains that this document has 25 perimeters for drinking water, while Sanitary Rules and Norms have 53 perimeters. The World Health Organization’s norms are judged by 97 perimeters and norms in Russia – 94.
- E. Berezovskiy also states that for some reason, our Sanitary Rules and Norms are not considered by the water supply department and the sanitary epidemiological station. Those standards were put into effect by a Health Ministry from January 1, 2005. Our Crimean water supply department and sanitary epidemiological department claim to have letters, proof, etc that the Health Ministry states that Sanitary Rules and Norms are not completely implemented. We, however, have other evidence that says these standards are in effect.
The fact is – the water supply department and sanitary epidemiological stations cannot be governed by Sanitary Rules and Norms because in this case, otherwise they would have had to change the technology of water pipes. Not a single water purification station can provide water whose quality corresponds to those norms.
Amet Mamutov agrees that it is impossible to control water according to the Sanitary Rules and Norms. First, we need to reorganize all the labs because right now they cannot carry out investigations according to the new requirements.
- "With good funding, it could be done," he says. "Unfortunately, they don’t have it."
L. Sharlay added that a new state standard is planned to be implemented this year and the Sanitary Rules and Norms will be amended according to the new state standard. Workers at the sanitary epidemiological station consider this to be a problem not of the water supply department, but of the state itself and that the state needs to completely change its approach to water purification. Water Supply Department Director Vekhat Nalbantov
"There is nothing dangerous about rusty water. It is not harmful. You just need to let the water run for a while, boil it, and only then use it. We keep track of water quality every hour. Moreover, the sanitary epidemiological station regularly checks it. Yes, it doesn’t look nice, but it is drinkable…"
Why is water turbidity dangerous?
Specialists state that water turbidity (particles suspended in the water) is a usual phenomenon. It is only bad when the numbers go over the norm because then both the look and its quality goes bad. The water’s turbidity increases in the spring when water is pumped into reservoirs, but it takes only a day for dangerous virus to get into water because of the presence of these particles.
Eduard Berezovskiy, head of the analytical lab of the center of ecological health of the Simferopol laboratory, says:
"Not just the turbidity itself is dangerous, but what it carries with it. The suspended particles can be the carriers of various viruses or, for example, dioxides."
Lidia Demeshyna, Feodosia doctor specializing in infections, says:
"I consider the dirty water to be the reason or the source for the spread of hepatitis A. People can protect themselves with a filter or by boiling water."
Demeshyna says:
"I really doubt that analysis of the water for viruses in like hepatitus A are done, and this is absolutely necessary!" Filters cannot keep away some viruses and bacteria, which is why I advise boiling water even after filtering. For children and people under 40 shouldn’t drink unboiled water at all.
Larisa Sharlay noted that Feodosia has the second place in the rating of Crimean cities’ poor water quality based on turbidity of water. The first place is taken by Kerch. To a great extent, it is blamed on worn out water pipes.
Larisa Vladimirovna says, "From the purifying systems, water comes out clean then by the time it reaches consumers on our pipes, it gets dirty a couple more times. It is no secret that many houses are flooded by water with feces and groundwater. That is another source of contamination."
Whose fault is it?
According to Amet Mamutov, all the responsibility for drinking water quality lies with the water supply department.
"If the water does not correspond with state standards and a person can prove it through test results then he/she can sue the water supply department," he said. "However, I cannot remember any case like that."
Ecologists blame it all on the state.
Eduard Berezovskiy says, "If the quality of the water supply is low, then there is nothing we can do, and even if we can, then this water would cost too much. Nowadays’ system of water management allows for anything imaginable. The water industry is responsible for the quality of water for irrigation and the Ministry of Community Housing is responsible for the quality of drinking water in inhabited areas. However, we can’t say if the quality of drinking water is bad, then the Ministry of Community Housing will be punished because they would say: "We were given this water and there is nothing we can do. We cannot control its quality going to the city."
What should be done?
According to Larisa Sharlay, there is an alternative to water supplies in Feodosia.
"We have Subash wells, which also belong to our water supply system. The quality of water there is great, even though it is hard. However, hard water is better than turbid water. If we could find a sponsor that would find those wells and start burring it would be excellent. At least we would be able to dissolve the water that we have with the Subash water. The quality wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be better than what we have now."
For now, specialists advise for every citizen to have a filter at home for purifying water. There are more than 3,000 kinds of those on the market. In Feodosia, it is recommended to have cold filters that would remove the accompanying taste, smell, color and would filter the rest of the chlorine, dissolve gases and organic compounds.
There are filters, bigger and more expensive, that distill water. However, you cannot drink it for a very long time because the body gets desalinated.
Larisa Sharlay notes that it is very important to use the filter in the correct way:
"Cartridges are designed to work for a specific amount and quality of water. Thus, having bought a filter, remember that cartridges need to be changed."
By Elena Cherdak.
The investigation is done with the support of the Danish Investigative Journalist’s Association in Eastern Europe (SCOOP).
