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Even purified bottled water contains deadly microbes, E coli and coliform

Kathmandu, July 14

About 66 per cent of the water being consumed in households of Kathmandu Valley is contaminated with hazardous bacteria, a study conducted by District Public Health Office, Kathmandu, shows.

The Kathmandu DPHO said it found the presence of microbes E coli and coliform in the water used in households of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts.

E coli is a bacteria species that lives in the digestive tracts of humans and animals. These microbes cause diarrhoeal infections. Similarly, coliform too are bacteria present in digestive tracts of both humans and animals and are found in their waste.

Kathmandu DPHO Chief Mahendra Prasad Shrestha said the DPHO had deployed technicians to collect water samples from households and conducted rapid test.

“About 66 per cent water samples were found contaminated,” said Shrestha. He said water used in the households of Kathmandu Valley were not safe to drink and urged all to ensure that their drinking water was properly boiled before drinking.

According to Shrestha, 1,367 water samples were collected from households of three districts.

He said samples of well water, bottled water and even water supplied by KUKL were collected as samples. He also added that even purified bottled water was found contaminated with deadly microbes.

The DPHO said the study focused on the areas that witnessed cholera outbreak last year. Shrestha said number of diarrhoea patients had increased significantly in the last few days. Doctors warned that consumption of drinking water could cause cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid, jaundice and dysentery, among other diseases.

A version of this article appears in print on July 15, 2017 of The Himalayan Times.

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