What's going on with the water?

[JudyS]

Today a notice on News Boquete warned about drinking untreated water due to fecal contamination and incidents of amoeba and giardia infections.  This week our water came out of our taps blackish-brown.  Then it went off entirely.  The outage is into its second day.  This is the second long outage this month.  The last one was 3 days.  This is not Santa Lucia or Jaramillo where water outages are common.  This is a neighborhood in Volcancito that has always had a dependable water supply.  This is a new problem.

The proposed water treatment system will not benefit Alto Boquete (which includes Volcancito).  Who can we talk to about the water? Brown fecal water is not acceptable.  Days without water is also not acceptable.  Yes, I do have storage tanks, but some of my neighbors don't.  We also had two days this month with 10 hour power outages.  Come to Boquete and live like a barnyard animal.

[John R Hampton]

Volcancito's water comes from Sistema de Riego Rio Caldera. Talk to Danitza Miranda who works in their office at 729-4193.

Mauirico Quicci drives the green truck inspecting the system on Volcancito Road. His number is 6805 3452.

[Bonnie]

I think it's important to take a close look at who the reporter is in this case: someone who has lived here for only a few weeks. She offers no factual underpinnings for her statements about water quality in specific areas and even suggests that filtration alone will guard against giardia, which it will not; that requires UV treatment. The "news" item itself is based on the case of Oriana's water which, I note, the authorities have stepped in to rectify.

I am not suggesting that there aren't water issues, as your own experience suggests, Judy. But the particular problems noted are not necessarily widespread. Moreover, it should be understood that expats are more vulnerable to water borne illnesses here because they haven't grown up drinking the water and their bodies therefore are not accommodated to it. We therefore are to a great extent responsible for our own water, that it be appropriately sanitized to protect our health.  Most people who have lived here a while recognize that this may require a sophisticated filtration system with UV treatment. Finally, the Mayor's authority with respect to water is limited to the municipal system, so confrontations with him may not be productive and may strain community relations between expats and government. As John writes, problems in areas governed by other water juntas should be taken to those authorities.

In short, these issues should be approached rationally, with an attention to facts and realities as opposed to ill-considered public alerts and proposals. 

[Brundageba]

We've lived here 8 years.  As  nurse I worked the mission clinic up Volconcito road for several years.  Waaay back 8 years ago, all this was a well known fact.  This is nothing new.  Albendazole was given out like M&Ms...lots of swollen bellies with diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting among the Ngobe.  Flagyl...yes on occaision.   Hey right away, we consumed only boiled water in our home...and bottled when out.  Now we have a purification system on our drinking water...but hey, it's not perfect either. 

Until a purification system is in place for the community water assume water is contaminated.

Alison

[JudyS]

The main error in Kelly's report was that the amoebas and giardia are only a problem for foreigners.  As Brundageba pointed out, it's a problem for locals too.

[Hil]

Parasites are in all river waters, irrigation waters and potable waters in the Boquete District. They Thrive in the ground and are transported in river water and above ground and below ground crops. That's not all, pesticides and other chemicals run rampant here also. Fecal matter is a different story. This isn't a matter of who you are or how long you've resided in  Panama.......................it's a HEALTH ISSUE. It ain't rocket science. Only the politicians can fix this. But fix has a different meaning in Panama.

[Evelyn Kendall]

There is a simple and inexpensive water filtration method that has been used in countries around the world called the BioSand filtration system.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosand_filter and http://www.biosandfilter.org/biosandfilter/index.php/item/229  It would make a wonderful project for a group of community minded people.  The best served would be the indigenous population...biosand filters could be strategically placed for community use.  I would be happy to give support to any effort that might emerge.  There is a lot of information on the web regarding these filters.