10 hospitalised after drinking contaminated water

By ALEX NJOVU

 

MORE than 10 people, three of them seriously ill, have been admitted to hospital in Mufulira after drinking tap water contaminated with acidic effluents from Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) underground.
Several others were yesterday screened at Malcolm Watson Mine and Ronald Ross hospitals after they drunk the acidic water.
Mulonga Water and Sewerage Company immediately shut down its water treatment plant to prevent the acidic water from reaching taps in homes.
Mufulira town clerk, Charles Mwandila, said drinking water in the border town was acidic and that several people drunk the greenish substance without knowing there was an acid spill into the supply system.
Copperbelt Province Minister, Mwansa Mbulakulima, and Permanent Secretary, Jennipher Musonda, last evening rushed to Mufulira to assess the situation.
Mrs Musonda said the situation was being managed professionally and would return to normal by this morning.
Mr Mwandila said by 10:00 hours yesterday, about 10 people, mostly children, were found with high acidic contents in the blood.
“I can confirm that the water here is acidic and that several people who sought medical attention in several clinics were taken to the hospital.
No one has died but several people were screened,” he said.
The water utility firm shut its plant after noticing that the water it was receiving into the plant was contaminated.
“Mulonga Water has shut its water treatment plant.
The first sample that was tested in the morning had PH6 levels of acid in the water,” he said.
“(For) the second sample that was taken around 10:00 hours, the levels of acidity dropped to PH4 (and) the water company decided to shut down the treatment plant because it kept on receiving acidic water from underground.”
But as the “water samples were being tested acidity, water was being distributed and people were drinking and using the greenish water” he said.
MCM has not yet submitted a report to his office on the incident.
He, however, commended MCM chief executive officer, Emmanuel Mutati, for working closely with the municipality in addressing the problem.
The town clerk said several Mufulira residents gathered at the hospital after they received false reports that some people had died of acidic poisoning.