ENVIRONMENTAL activists are warning that sewage could be seeping into drinking water at two dams in the Limassol district.
Green Party member Marina Martin said yesterday that sewage was finding its way into the dams at Yermasoyia and Kouri and that this could have very dangerous repercussions, especially for residents in higher regions that may not have access to water that has passed through full filtering systems.
“The basic problem is, for example, villages close to the dams in Kouri and Yermasoyia, have problems in containing sewage not only because of the difficult access to the areas there but because it is also a costly business.
“Sewage which overflows in the septic tanks then spills into the soil and that will inevitably wash up into the nearest water stream. As we all know all streams on the island always end up in the dams.”
She added that Limassol was not the only problem, arguing that the Green Party had warned of such dangers before and that this particular kind of danger affected the whole of Cyprus.
But that isn’t the only worry, with the Green Party raising serious doubts over the actual handling of the water cleaning from the dams.
“We have evidence that suggests that the workers of the Integrated Water Management Services are not up to scratch and that is very worrying. The water needs to be treated and handled properly before it can reach our homes.”
Dysentery, salmonellosis, cryptosporidium and hepatitis are among the conditions transmitted by sewage in drinking and bathing water. Dysentery is a bacterium which causes inflammation of the intestine characterised by the frequent passage of feces, usually with blood and mucus. Salmonellosis is a bacterium that can cause typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, blood poisoning, and food poisoning. Cryptosporidium is a parasite which appears to be responsible for most of the illnesses. Symptoms of the disease are vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever usually lasting one to two weeks. Lastly some of the symptoms of the virus hepatitis are nausea, fever, weakness, loss of appetite, sudden distaste for tobacco smoking, and jaundice.
