Butzbach water contaminated with bacteria

Butzbach: Water contaminated with bacteria. Citizens are encouraged to boil the water before eating.

The series of reports on contaminated drinking water does not stop. In a study of drinking water in Butzbach health authorities have detected so-called coliform bacteria in the water. Affected by the contaminated water are the districts Nieder- Weisel, Ostheim, Hausen, Oes, Hoch-Weisel, Fauerbach, Wiesental, Munster, Bodenrod, and Espa in the neighboring municipality of Langgöns. As a spokeswoman for the authorities said, the population is required to boil water before drinking or to resort to bottled mineral water.

The water must be boiled for at least three minutes before drinking, brushing or preparing food. An all-clear will take place in the course of the next week. "Until then, the citizens still have to boil the tap water," warned the responsible health department head Ottmar Lich. Under the specially established telephone hotline Tel: 06031-19296 inquiries can be made to the authorities. So far, nothing is known about the exact causes of the contamination.

Coliform bacteria are the bacterial genera of Escherichia coli and other lactose-splitting enterobacteria. Although E. coli bacteria are an integral part of the intestinal flora, the bacteria outside the intestine "in the wrong place" can lead to serious illnesses. Thus, the germs can lead to urinary tract infections, peritonitis and even meningitis in newborns. Therefore, the warning of the authorities should be taken seriously. (sb, 08.10.2010)

Also read:
Microbial contamination detected in drinking water
Drinking water often contaminated with germs
Drug residues in drinking water