Just a question on the "potable" water here in the DR. Now in the US, the phrase "potable" means that it is drinkable. While there are lots of stats here on the number of houses who have "potable" water, a lot of that is simply pumped from rivers and resevoirs, is it not? There is no chlorine added, is there?
- Thread starter frank recktenwald
- Start date
Cholera
Most DR aqueducts do have chlorine dossifiers...and some have florine also...
HB
Some places have excellent water. Mao used to, I do not know today. Santiago does for the most part. La Vega is famous for its water.
One issue is the piping: years ago they used asbestos-cement piping since the government owned the factory!! So most of the water systems have water pipes that might be cracked. Nearby, there might be sewer lines also cracked.
The water pumps get turned off due to lack of power, and a vacuum is created in the pipes, sucking in pollution from the sewers... THAT is how the systems get contaminated!!
Massive overhaul of water systems would absorb the budget of the Armed Forces or the Ministries of the Women, the Youth and Culture (and the Office of the First Lady) together!!! and we KNOW how important those ministries are!!
HB2
HB
Some places have excellent water. Mao used to, I do not know today. Santiago does for the most part. La Vega is famous for its water.
One issue is the piping: years ago they used asbestos-cement piping since the government owned the factory!! So most of the water systems have water pipes that might be cracked. Nearby, there might be sewer lines also cracked.
The water pumps get turned off due to lack of power, and a vacuum is created in the pipes, sucking in pollution from the sewers... THAT is how the systems get contaminated!!
Massive overhaul of water systems would absorb the budget of the Armed Forces or the Ministries of the Women, the Youth and Culture (and the Office of the First Lady) together!!! and we KNOW how important those ministries are!!
HB2
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The water is pumped out of the rivers - at least - here it is.
In Jarabacoa we got water from a natural spring and didn't have to add anything to it to make it potable as it was natural spring water directly delivered to the house.
Here chlorine is added in the reservoirs and monitored that its potable although we only use it for cooking, washing, showering but its safe to use to brush your teeth with f.e... Real drinking water comes from the blue bottles.
Might be the right time to consider some "extra" filtration of water used for washing food, etc., just to be safe. Lots of options, but I might be tempted to look at something along these lines ...
The Lifesaver Bottle
The Lifesaver Bottle
According to CNN they have also cholera now in Port au Prince.
UN: Cholera cases in Haiti's capital are a 'worrying development' - CNN.com
UN: Cholera cases in Haiti's capital are a 'worrying development' - CNN.com
According to the Dutch newspaper there're already 250 deaths till now.
Dodental cholera Haïti gestegen - Buitenland | Het laatste buitenlandse nieuws leest u op Telegraaf.nl [buitenland]
Dodental cholera Haïti gestegen - Buitenland | Het laatste buitenlandse nieuws leest u op Telegraaf.nl [buitenland]
I wondered about 'potable' water too.
To be honest I would not drink the 'potable' water in Haiti that comes out of a water truck. I have quite a good set of immunity by now but still prefer to buy from a reputable water processor.
Mainly this 'potable' water has just been pumped out of the ground.
The problem for me is that the ground is so filthy.
If not then the truck is likely not clean.
I have done excavations for various projects and you can see decades of trash layered as in an archaeological dig.
I will only drink the reverse osmosis, UV treated and heavily filtered water.
I only got sick once in Haiti but that was spectacular!
I will not go into details but I would not wish that on anybody.
So potable water for the masses is different to potable water for us lilly livered expats.
To be honest I would not drink the 'potable' water in Haiti that comes out of a water truck. I have quite a good set of immunity by now but still prefer to buy from a reputable water processor.
Mainly this 'potable' water has just been pumped out of the ground.
The problem for me is that the ground is so filthy.
If not then the truck is likely not clean.
I have done excavations for various projects and you can see decades of trash layered as in an archaeological dig.
I will only drink the reverse osmosis, UV treated and heavily filtered water.
I only got sick once in Haiti but that was spectacular!
I will not go into details but I would not wish that on anybody.
So potable water for the masses is different to potable water for us lilly livered expats.
One of the reports I read mentioned a pollutant from a hydroelectric plant being dumped into the river as the possible cause. Any more about that?
Several years ago I worked on a project that supplied potable water to slum residents in Cap-Haitien. The conditions in the slums and some of the water sources that people were using even shocked colleagues who had worked in urban slums in India and Africa.
Several years ago I worked on a project that supplied potable water to slum residents in Cap-Haitien. The conditions in the slums and some of the water sources that people were using even shocked colleagues who had worked in urban slums in India and Africa.
Hydroelectric plant pollutants don't contain the vibrio cholerae bacteria. According to Haitian President Rene Preval, the vibrio cholerae bacteria was 'imported' into Haiti. I read into President Preval's statement, a suggestion of possible foul play.
I have read a couple of postings in French on the Haiti list servs that speculate that pollutants were put in the river.. from the Dominican side.....
"Haitian President Rene Preval said on Saturday that the cholera epidemic affecting the country since the beginning of the week was "imported". Preval, however, does not want to investigate the origin of the outbreak. "It would be irresponsible and dangerous" to identify a country as a source of the epidemic that has killed 210 people, said the Haitian leader to station Radio Kiskeya in Mirebalais, one of the areas affected by the disease.
Accompanied by Health Minister, Alex Larsen, head of the Interior, Paul Antoine Bien-Aime, and the police chief, Mario Andr?sol, Preval also visited Artibonite (north), another division greatly affected by the outbreak. "
Haiti president, Rene Preval, Suggests that Cholera Outbreak is a Biological Attack. - 12160
Accompanied by Health Minister, Alex Larsen, head of the Interior, Paul Antoine Bien-Aime, and the police chief, Mario Andr?sol, Preval also visited Artibonite (north), another division greatly affected by the outbreak. "
Haiti president, Rene Preval, Suggests that Cholera Outbreak is a Biological Attack. - 12160
"El brote de c?lera declarado en Hait? podr?a estar relacionado con un r?o contaminado que pasa muy cerca de Artibonite, seg?n el Fondo de Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (Unicef). Sin embargo, el presidente de Hait?, Ren? Pr?val, asegur? ayer que la epidemia fue "importada", aunque se abstuvo de identificar su procedencia.
"Ser?a irresponsable y peligroso" identificar a un pa?s o nacionales de alg?n territorio como fuente de la epidemia que causa estragos en el norte y el este de Hait?, declar? Pr?val a la emisora privada Radio Kiskeya. "
Las v?ctimas mortales del c?lera en Hait? se elevan a 253
"Ser?a irresponsable y peligroso" identificar a un pa?s o nacionales de alg?n territorio como fuente de la epidemia que causa estragos en el norte y el este de Hait?, declar? Pr?val a la emisora privada Radio Kiskeya. "
Las v?ctimas mortales del c?lera en Hait? se elevan a 253
So in other words he suspects the DR because what other neighbor Haiti has?
Oh yes, it's the DR's fault and I guess the earthquake was caused by a new super secret bomb the US military was testing in the Port-au-Prince area too.
Anything else requires too much common sense to be even considered as a plausibility!
aranoid:
What a way of backstabbing at a time when everyone was beginning to believe that this habit was suppose to be a thing of the past.
On a more realistic note, food prepared in Haiti and fish is now prohibited from being sold in the border markets until this cholera thing is under control. Unlike the Haitian government and despite it's perceived levels of corruption, the Dominican government still makes efforts to protect its people from crap that should not even be occurring on the island in the 21st century.
Anything else requires too much common sense to be even considered as a plausibility!
aranoid:What a way of backstabbing at a time when everyone was beginning to believe that this habit was suppose to be a thing of the past.
On a more realistic note, food prepared in Haiti and fish is now prohibited from being sold in the border markets until this cholera thing is under control. Unlike the Haitian government and despite it's perceived levels of corruption, the Dominican government still makes efforts to protect its people from crap that should not even be occurring on the island in the 21st century.
right.. it would be dangerous and irresponsible
let us hope that everyone forgets that he said anything about it.
let us hope that everyone forgets that he said anything about it.
the only fish from Haiti that I have seen is sold in Pedernales.. and if the fish in Anse a Pitres are contaminated... then so are the ones in Pedernales.