Prosecutor's Office denounces escherichia coli bacteria in water from the Santa Marta aqueduct

On Friday, April 1st, the forum “Real Actions for Real Problems” took place in Santa Marta, a space in which issues associated with the provision of public services in the capital of Magdalena were discussed, especially the aqueduct, which has been a frequent problem for the population for several decades.

Among the panelists who made their interventions was Jorge Escobar Silebi, the judicial prosecutor of the department of Magdalena. The staff member conducted an extensive intervention in which he recounted the allegations made by the entity on this particular matter.

First, he cited that a study by the University of the Andes indicated that Santa Marta demands 2300 liters of water in rainy seasons and 2400 in the dry season. However, with the current infrastructure, the deficit in rainy weather is 730 liters and in drought it reaches 1300 liters.

Some of the claims included cost overruns of up to twice as much, paid with resources of the department, for certain works. Escobar also noted that, although some studies indicated that one of the wells should cease to be used to ensure its restoration in rainy seasons, this request has been ignored for several years, among other reasons, due to delays in other works to meet demand during this recharge time.

However, the most serious of Escobar's allegations is the bacteriological outcome of the waters. According to him, cells of the bacteria Escherichia coli were found. This microorganism is present in the gastrointestinal flora of several mammals, including humans, and the intake of some varieties of E. coli can cause infections with diarrhea and vomiting.

In short, in the water of the aqueduct there are bacteria common in the fecal matter that make the water unsafe for human consumption.

Escobar insists that the presence of this bacterium cannot occur naturally in water extracted from underground wells. He points out that there is a recharge of the aquifer wells with wastewater that is causing these leaks and polluting the water.

In addition to the presence of fecal bacteria, the waters also do not exceed the indicators of alkalinity and hardness: it is full of minerals and its pH is not balanced.

For his part, the deputy minister of water and basic sanitation, José Luis Acero, indicated that “the problem of Santa Marta's current deficit is not simply the low flow of rivers around the city, but that the deficit is derived from what has historically been a poor provision of public service.”

He indicated that “for that they proposed lines that would carry out long-term and medium-term actions such as working on losses, on routes, on water theft, on better distribution and sectorization, on network pressure and plant optimization.”

The deputy minister said that this work has been carried out by the Superintendent of Public Services, but stressed that it was the responsibility of the Mayor's Office and the company that provides public services.

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