New device set to tackle recurring Borgarfjörður water contamination

A new treatment device is due to be connected to the water tank in Borgarfjörður eystri on Monday to address a long-running bacterial contamination problem, mbl.is reported.

Bacterial contamination was discovered in the settlement’s water source about a week ago. Contamination has been detected there three times in four years, although it is possible that earlier cases went undetected.

“The plan is to complete the installation of a new irradiation device and connect it to the water tank today,” said Aðalsteinn Þórhallsson, managing director of HEF Utilities, in an interview with Morgunblaðið.

Water from the town’s pipes has not been safe to drink. The contamination was identified during routine monitoring by the East Iceland Health Inspectorate, which plans to take new samples once the work is complete.

The cause of the contamination is unknown. Austurfrétt reports that it is believed to have entered the wells from natural sources.

The work was originally expected to be completed on Friday, but was delayed. HEF staff stopped work at noon that day. Aðalsteinn said the shortened working week was not responsible for the delay, although it is taken into account in HEF’s operations.

“The men working on this for us do not consider the shortened working week when projects are urgent and need to be completed,” he said. “Something else came up. Some contractors and service providers needed to finish the matter were unavailable, so Monday was set as the target. Materials and supplies also affect the timetable.”

Arngrímur Viðar Ásgeirsson, who runs the Álfheimar guesthouse in the town, criticised the delay and a lack of information. He said he had collected about 500 litres of water in recent days from nearby farms to keep the guesthouse kitchen operating and provide drinking water for its 70 guests.

“It is clear that work is under way to improve the water pipes, which is good. But after we have had to collect around 500 litres of water to keep our kitchen running and give our guests clean drinking water, questions arise about what the normal procedures are, what the situation is and whether this is normal,” Arngrímur said.

He said he had received no notification of the contamination by email or text message, either from HEF or the health inspectorate. Aðalsteinn said text messages had been sent to the phone numbers known to be in use in the area.

Arngrímur said the repeated contamination indicated that something was wrong with the water sources and warned that E. coli bacteria can cause serious illness. Aðalsteinn said there were no known cases of anyone becoming ill because of the contamination in Borgarfjörður eystri.