ENVIRONMENT-BARBADOS: Beware of the Spring Water

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Cara Mason

BRIDGETOWN, Apr 18 1998 (IPS) - Sonia Smith, a housekeeper, travels three kilometres every wo days to splash in the clear spring waters in St. Thomas at the north-eastern end of the island.

On these trips she also carts away bottles of the water which is believed to be free of impurities and is much better for consuption than that which runs through the tap at her home.

She is one of the many Barbadians who swear by the virtues of spring water, believing it has power to cure aches and pains and all kinds of illnesses.

But people like Smith are now being forced to rethink these beliefs after information surfaced here recently that 100 Barbadians have, so far this year, fallen ill from drinking contaminated spring water.

A doctor who requested anonymity, says in the last few years he has treated close to 500 persons with illnesses such as headaches, intense stomach pains, vomitting and diarrhoea wch appear to be related to their consumption of contaminated spring water.

Another doctor, Sangy Anderson says some men who bathe in the springs have developed sores on their testicles and some children have come down with pasite worms.

Officials say the popular springs located in St. Thomas, St. Joseph, St. John and St. Philip have been contaminated by upstream illegal dumping, sewage discharges and agricultural activity.

The Ministry of Health and the Environment has been testing water each month for six years in these areas and has seen growing pollution levels.

Andre Miller of the Coastal Zone Management Unit says the department has traced the pollution to activities upstream, explaining that the springs are close to the surface and bacteria will reach spring water quicker and easier than underground water.

But Miller says their first line of control will not be to ban the use of spring water, but they are trying to implement measures to reduce pollution.

Marilyn Watts-Small says she has been drinking spring water for the last 10 years, believing it “is better” for her. She, however, says she has never fallen ill as a result, but with this recent development she will not take any more chances.

“It is healthier than the underground water that is full of chlorine but with so many people getting sick I will have to stop drinking it before it makes me sick,” she says.

Nailah Johnson who in the past swore by spring water now says it is time to spread the word that the spring waters are not good for drinking and she is urging government to clean them up right away before more people fall ill.

She says she has had a long bout of headaches and stomach pains and it was only recently she discovered her ailments were due to the consumption of spring water all this time.

A representative from the Ministry of Health says the spring waters have become polluted with bacteria found in the excreta of humans and animals.

A sample of 100 millilitres of water was tested in a lab for its bacteria count and the levels found in some springs have been very high, the Ministry official says. At Porey Spring in St. Thomas, for example, te highest level has been 1800 coliform.

The World Health Organisation standards mandate that there should be no faecal coliforms in drinking water.

“If anyone dies as a result of negligence — of informing people in a timely fashion, it will be a very serious matter,” says Lana Ifill who takes the occasional bath at one of the approximately 20 springs located on the island.

Environmentalists say illegal dumping also poses a threat to the water supply and springs.

But police and health officials here are trying to correct what they deem to be an increase in illegal dumping across the island and those who are guilty of these acts could find themselves before the courts facing prosecution.

“We will shortly, in conjunction with the police, be mounting operations to seek to apprehend persons involved in the act of illegal dumping in order to affect prosecutions,” says General Manager of the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) Chris Griffith.

The new operation to be mounted will give life to legislation alray in place to deal with persons who commit acts of illegal dumping.

“It is a serious problem. Illegal dumping is particularly threatening to our underground water supply. It may be a source of breeding for our insects and rodents…,” says Griffith.

“Illegal dumping and littering will continue to be a problem for us because it is still socially acceptable in Barbados,” he adds, noting that this practice is not accepted in developed countries.

“These acts are committed by a cross section of our society, and ae nt related at all to only the persons at the lower end,” he says.

Chief public health officer Anthony Drayton, says every year, health inspectors try to reduce the number of dump sites by initiating community clean-up campaigns, serving notices on property owners on whose land such sites exist.