Kuressaare water utility begins chlorination after bacteria found

Kuressaare Water Utility has begun chlorinating the city’s water after routine drinking-water samples found bacteria, ERR reported.

Preliminary results showed one E. coli-like bacterium at the end of the Upa pipeline and one coliform-like bacterium at the end of the Kummeli pipeline. The samples were taken on July 30, according to Saarte Hääl.

Kuressaare Water Utility recommends that residents, at least in the Upa area, boil drinking water before consuming it as an additional precaution.

The utility said coliform-like bacteria can occur at the ends of pipelines in warm weather and when water is stagnant. Their presence primarily indicates a need to flush the pipeline.

The E. coli bacterium found at the end of the Upa pipeline requires greater attention. It has not been detected in Kuressaare’s water during the past three years. The utility said that finding a single E. coli bacterium does not in itself mean that the city’s drinking water is more widely contaminated, but it does require an immediate response.