Fear of water

A neighbor’s recent death last month from typhoid fever turned the BF Resort Village residents’ fear into anger.

"We are hoping that by making this public, we can force subdivision owners into doing something about this problem," said long-time resident, Danny Cruz.

His 63-year-old wife, Lilia, was admitted to a Makati City hospital for typhoid fever. But now, she has developed complications, from bronchitis to massive internal bleeding.

Since March, several residents of the Phase 2 North portion of the upper-middle class subdivision, located in Barangay Talon 2, Las Piñas City, have fallen sick – from typhoid to diarrhea to urinary tract infection.

Cruz, Gerald Santos, president of the Evelyn Camus street, where Cruz lives, and another neighbor, Luz Formacil, said they suspect the outbreak was caused by contaminated water from the main pipes of the BF Waterworks, the community’s water distributor.

Santos told The STAR that residents began falling sick after BF Waterworks installed a new well last month.

In Evelyn Camus street alone, Santos said entire households in their area have fallen ill. Of the 70 families here, only three have miraculously been spared.

"We know residents in our neighboring streets have fallen ill as well," Santos said.

One Sherwin Dula, a young man in his 20s, and a resident of Y. Dominguez street, died of typhoid last month, Santos said. Y. Dominguez is right beside Evelyn Camus street.

But Santos said he himself is surprised why other streets in the subdivision are not affected.

The STAR tried to get an official tally of those who have fallen ill from the barangay and city health office but was declined an interview.

Formacil showed The STAR samples of brownish water taken the past weeks and the latest, yesterday morning.

Her three young children have all gotten sick with typhoid and diarrhea.

"We have started buying mineral water to use for cooking, drinking, brushing our teeth, etc. This morning, I noticed that after taking a bath using regular water, it was already itchy," she said.

A barangay health advisory indicated that city health officer, Dr. Esther Oliveros, has informed BF Waterworks that water samples taken from Y. Dominguez and Gloria Diaz street last April 8 failed the bacteriological standard for drinking water set by the Department of Health (DOH).

Samples from seven other streets, including Evelyn Camus, passed. However, the advisory noted that despite this, residents from E. Camus continue to fall sick with typhoid.

In a meeting with residents, Santos said, an engineer from BF Waterworks he identified only as "Engr. Mendoza", supposedly admitted that the new well was tapped into the main line without properly testing the water.

"He mentioned that they wanted to save on electricity. That really made me mad," Santos said.

The residents claimed that their water distributor did not even advise residents that there was a high pressure pump being introduced into the water system.

"We could only guess that the sediments that have accumulated in the old pipes are being pushed into the ones that lead to our homes. Phase 2 north, which is the lower part of the village, ended up bearing the brunt (of the new system)," Santos said.

But a representative from BF Waterworks, Engr. Henry Mercaida, denied that their water supply is causing the typhoid outbreak.

In fact, before the interview, Mercaida, head of the distribution and customer service department, said he was preparing a letter to DOH disputing its findings that the contaminated water came from BF Waterworks’ pipelines.

The water sample that failed, he said, came from Pump No. 6 in Gloria Diaz street, which has already been disconnected by BF Waterworks.

"The bakery where the pump is located is already using its own deep well," he said.

Mercaida insisted that the water from his company’s system " is certainly clean, clear, and safe to drink."

He also denied that the new well was connected without undergoing the proper test procedure.

However, he acknowledged that the murky water could have been caused by the "blowing off" of the new pipelines, as the residents have suspected.

Mercaida said BF Waterworks is "diligently monitoring the water and from the pipelines everyday."

But the residents are convinced that whatever it is that causes their sicknesses is water-borne.

And they are getting impatient by what Santos described as the "defensive" stance of BF Waterworks.

Cruz said that three options to solve the problem have been raised: to shut off the water system completely; to treat the water chemically; or to re-pipe.

"But all these do not seem feasible," he sad.

A frustrated Santos said that while the city health office and BF Waterworks continue to communicate with each other about the problem, "it seems no one wants to really get to the bottom of this and find a solution."