Germ load in the drinking water of Angermünde

Warning of bacterial contamination of drinking water in Angermünde

08/11/2011

Again and again, significant bacterial contamination in drinking water is detected in Germany, which requires immediate intervention by the authorities. For example, in the 10,000-strong community of Angermünde in the district of Uckermark, all residents are urged to thoroughly boil their drinking water, as this may contain so-called enterococci (special lactic acid bacteria).

According to media reports, the Health Department of the district of Uckermark has detected the enterococci bacteria in several drinking water samples from Angermünde. Until the cause of the contamination has been determined and the bacterial contamination has been remedied, residents are urged to thoroughly boil their drinking water in order to avoid possible health risks „Märkische Oder newspaper“.

The bacterial contamination of the drinking water was determined by the health authorities, inter alia, in two day care centers (Casekow and Hohenselchow), which required an immediate intervention. Because the relatively widespread germs can bring a health risk especially for infants and persons with weakened immune systems. You are threatened with urinary tract infections and infections in the digestive tract (gastrointestinal infections), with diarrhea, nausea and vomiting as typical symptoms. The cause of the increased bacterial contamination in the drinking water of the municipality of Angermünde is currently unknown. However, some experts suspect the germs may have been linked to the mosquito infestation last summer, as the insects now die in the water supply systems and can thus form the source of bacterial contamination.

Most recently, a bacterial load of bacteria in the Potsdam-Babelsberg drinking water had occurred in July, which meant that 3,700 affected households in Potsdam and 6,000 households in the Barnim district had to boil their drinking water for weeks. As a possible cause of the germ burden, the authorities identified in the course of their research, the carcasses of three dead mice and a mole, which were discovered in a drinking water basin. (Fp)

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Image: Dieter Schütz