Residents urged to store water for emergency use
published: Saturday | August 28, 2004

By Robert Lalah, Staff Reporter

AS THE 2004 hurricane season progresses, Peter Knight, Director of the Ministry of Health's Environmental Health Unit is urging persons who store water for domestic use, to ensure that supplies are safe for drinking and preparing meals.

The caution is directed particularly at residents of Manchester and St. Elizabeth, who recently experienced flooding during Hurricane Charley. The Unit is currently evaluating the water supplies in these areas and residents who require further information may get in touch with their parish health departments.

UNSAFE WATER

Mr. Knight said that unsafe water is one of the main vehicles for a number of dangerous diseases and illnesses including typhoid, cholera and gastro-enteritis. He noted that despite the fact that the relevant state agencies have put measures in place to ensure that water sources and waterways are not contaminated, natural occurrences such as floods, may lead to disruption in supplies, and so the public must take precautions.

He added that there are many simple measures that consumers can take to ensure that their water is safe for drinking and cooking. Two of the most effective measures are boiling, as well as adding bleach to purify the water.

"What we recommend is for you to allow the water to boil for at least five minutes before removing it from the fire. Then you will have to cover that water and leave it to cool," he said.

Describing how the bleach should be added, Mr. Knight said, "To one litre of water, add two drops of bleach. For five litres, you should add eight drops of bleach and for twenty litres add a half teaspoon of bleach,".

PROBLEMS CAN ARISE

He went on to say that although consumers can be confident in the safety of the supplies they receive through their pipes, it was the individual's responsibility to ensure that their water is kept clean "as problems can arise if the water, having been properly treated, is collected and stored in unclean containers, in containers that held dangerous chemicals, or if the water is contaminated by insects and rats."