Tainted
AT least 10,000 people in a town in South China suffered drinking water shortages yesterday after excessive levels of manganese were detected in the tap water.
The city government of Lufeng in Guangdong said the amount of manganese found in tap water in Da’an reached 1.2 milligrams per liter Monday, 12 times the amount allowed in drinking water.
The cause of the contamination was under investigation and environment specialists from Lufeng City were conducting further analysis, said Huang Xianjia, a city government spokesman.
According to national standards for drinking water issued by the Ministry of Health and the Standardization Administration in 2007, the maximum allowable amount of manganese in drinking water is 0.1 milligrams per liter.
The local government put up emergency notices on every busy street in town Tuesday, warning residents not to drink tap water until further notice.
“We’re trying to remedy the situation and will keep you posted,” read a notice written on red paper.
Huang said the contamination was “not serious.”
“Tap water still appears clear with no odor. It’s safe for washing and bathing,” Huang said.
But a resident showed reporters two pails of water he stored Monday. Dark sediment was seen clearly at the bottom of the pails.
“It takes time for the mineral to settle and become visible,” said the resident, named Wang.
Wang and his neighbors have joined a rush to collect spring water in mountains near their homes.
“Many families have bought new pails. Some carry water on motorbikes while others use shoulder poles,” he said.
Da’an has several spring water sources nearby so drinking water is not an immediate worry, said Huang Zhenyu, chief of the local government.
He said police and market regulators had been told to watch out for price hikes as runs on bottled water and food were likely.
The manganese-tainted water was said to come from Da’an Waterworks, one of the two tap water suppliers in town. It provides water for more than 10,000 of the town’s total 50,000 residents.
It is the first manganese contamination case reported since the waterworks opened in the 1980s.
The cause of the contamination is still unknown. Town official Huang Zhenyu said there were no manganese processing plants or mines in the region.
He said lab tests were being conducted at other waterworks.
“If the water there proves safe, we’ll lay a new pipeline to divert water,” he said.
Health experts say manganese is a required nutrient, but high levels of the mineral can pose a neurotoxic risk, causing mental and emotional disturbances and difficulty in moving
