“Water came out of tap all cloudy; smelt awful”
“An unfortunate coincidence” is how authorities have explained the unhappy moment that ‘liquid from the sewers’ came to be found in Setúbal tap water.
What appears to have taken place was the almost simultaneous rupture in the ‘drinking water network’ just as a ‘crack’ appeared in a sewage pipe.
The result is easily explained by the Youtube video below:
This ‘unfortunate coincidence’ affected residents in Vale de Mulatas – nine of which ended up with gastrointestinal problems.
The case was reported to online Observador by people who live in the area, who complained about the way the situation was resolved and the lack of information they received.
As one told the online, the water coming out of the taps during the first week of August was “all cloudy, and smelt awful (…) like sewage”.
Official information that there was a risk of contamination was only given 24 hours after the rupture “when there had already been consumption” and “when we had already become aware of the problem”, the resident explained.
“We were the ones who warned the services that the water wasn’t up to scratch, not the other way around.”
Setúbal Municipal Services (SMS), the entity that manages the water supply in that area, assured Observador that “all the residents were contacted as soon as the problem was detected and that everything possible was done to resolve the situation as quickly as possible”.
Palmela Town Council, which has a protocol with the Setúbal municipality for the supply of water in the area around Vale de Mulatas, also said the problem “was dealt with promptly”.
But nine people were taken ill, some of whom were reportedly so unwell they needed hospital assistance, says Observador.
The Youtube video is apparently a clip of the contaminated water being ‘released’ from the mains network, and allowed to flow into the street. There is a noise in the clip of what sounds like a pump, so with luck this contaminated water will have been siphoned off the public highway.
According to Setúbal Municipal Services, tap water in Vale de Mulatas is already ‘suitable for consumption’.
