President Daniel Gibbs held a press conference, Tuesday, June 25, 2019, with the ARS, the Water and Sanitation Establishment of Saint-Martin (EEASM) and SAUR Saint-Martin, on the situation of city water, prohibited for consumption until further notice. Madame Préfète Sylvie Feucher also participated in this press point, which was broadcast live on the Community's Facebook page, so that as many people as possible are informed and understand the situation.
The situation is as follows: Following analyzes carried out on the city water distribution network by the ARS, the community was informed, Thursday, June 20 at the end of the day, of a water pollution at Bromates, found at 4 points in the distribution network. The next day, based on his police powers and the precautionary principle, the President of the community issued a territorial decree to temporarily ban the consumption of water (drink, cooking, brushing teeth). This is not to ingest the water. Water can however be used for showers and cleaning the house. A distribution of mineral water packs was immediately organized by SAUR Saint-Martin, under the authority of the EEASM. Vulnerable people are targeted. Thus, the central kitchen, schools, hospital and retirement home are supplied until further notice. Twenty families already listed by the Solidarity and Families Pole of the Community as being in great difficulty, will also be part of the distribution system.
Bromates appear in the process of desalination of seawater by reverse osmosis. The rate found in Saint-Martin is higher than the authorized standard, it is however three times lower than in Saint-Barthélemy which faces the same problem. In application of the precautionary principle, SAUR Saint-Martin and the Collectivity call on users of the public network to use tap water for restricted use.
In order to prevent any risk, in particular in patients with renal insufficiency, infants, the elderly and pregnant women, the following uses are prohibited: for drinks (including in the form of ice cubes or other derivatives):
- For cooking,
- For brushing teeth,
- For cleaning vegetables or any other food. The act of boiling the water does not remove the bromate.
President GIBBS confirmed to the media that regular points would be made through the press in order to inform users with transparency of the evolution of the situation. Counter-analyzes of the ARS and the SAUR are currently in progress, as soon as the results are known, they will be immediately communicated to the population.
> Details of EEASM
Aware of the questions raised by the presence of bromates in the distribution network, the EEASM wishes to inform its users that many actions are already being implemented in order to bring the rates of bromates noted by the ARS, at regulatory levels.
At the same time and as part of the follow-up to this situation, the EEASM is awaiting the results of the analyzes requested from its delegatee, SAUR Saint-Martin, the return of which is scheduled before the end of this week and which will be the subject of '' dedicated communication for the sake of perfect transparency. The ARS for its part is also carrying out follow-up analyzes, the results of which are expected at the beginning of next week.
Since last Thursday and the reception of the analyzes carried out by the ARS, the EEASM and its delegatee, SAUR Saint-Martin, technically make every effort, at the level of the production process as at the level of the distribution process, to substantially reduce the risk of appearance of bromates in the distributed water. Several factors capable of acting on the physico-chemical characteristics of water are subject to adjustments. In the meantime, the precautionary measures recommended by the ARS should be observed.
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