This water supplied part of the population and was exchanged for water from an artesian well. The municipality justifies the change with high levels of arsenic in the spring water that could endanger public health.
The inhabitants are in a real nervous breakdown about the water exchange. They complain that borehole water is not good for consumption and that they have even felt bad drinking it.
“With the water from the borehole I immediately feel bad and go to the bathroom straight away and with the other water that doesn’t happen,” said resident Ernesto Costa.
Resident Fernanda Correia also complains about the quality of the water from the borehole. “We put the water from the hole in the bottle today, tomorrow there will be garbage at the bottom”, she complained.
Maria do Amparo, one of the residents leading the protest, even says that the water in the borehole is not clear. “In the morning I got up, I was taking a shower and I looked down and said ‘I don’t have this dirt’. The water was yellow and full of crap,” she said.
Dulce Azevedo complains about the same thing. “The water is not good, it is no good, it comes out dark, it looks like tiles. The other day my father drank it from the tap and had a stomach ache,” he said.
The municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros is supplying the population with water from an artesian well. However, the population refuses to use it and several people continue to get the one from the source.
“We are used to spring water and it is with it that we feel good, it is what takes away our thirst”, highlighted Fernanda Correia.
Residents say they always knew the water had more arsenic than usual, but it never hurt anyone. “My grandfathers and great-grandfathers always said that water had iron, they didn’t call it arsenic, and it didn’t do any harm. They all died close to 100 years old”, said Maria do Amparo.
And they refuse to use borehole water. “I see the tap here to get it. Just yesterday I filled seven or eight bottles, two or three carboys. I cook food with her and drunks and not with the other”, said Dulce Azevedo.
The vice-president of the Macedo de Cavaleiros council has, in recent times, been at the forefront of this process. He clarified that analyzes were carried out on the spring water and that the values of several metals, manganese and arsenic increased. Therefore, there was no other decision to make. The spring water was exchanged for water from an artesian well.
Rui Vilarinho said that the chamber will not go back on its decision. “We are not going to make it easier and we are going to maintain the decision we made, unless the health delegate analyzes the other water and finds that it is good and better than this one again and we reverse the situation, but it is something that we cannot seems to be expected”, he stressed.
Part of the population of Burga has been supplied by a borehole for around 20 years and the other part was supplied by the spring. Now, both are supplied by boreholes, and with the exchange, a new borehole was made.
Rui Vilarinho said that there is no shortage of water, as some residents complain. There is indeed a boycott, as he explains. “According to data provided to me by the Parish Council and people with common sense, there are criminals. As they don’t have meters, they open the taps at night and it’s normal that, in five or six houses, with open taps, a 50,000 liter tank, in three or four hours, reaches zero level,” he said.
The council will also install meters. Rui Vilarinho considers that the resistance on the part of residents is not related to the fact of starting to pay for water. It has to do with habits, since people believe that water is blessed.
According to the analysis bulletin sent by the municipality of Macedo de Cavaleiros, to Jornal Nordeste, the spring water, during the testing period between January 31st and February 2nd, had arsenic levels above 41 µ/L. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), water for human consumption must have a maximum of 10 µ/L.
Written by Brigantia
