Not what you want in the pipes!

A number of my colleagues and various of their family members have been going down with stomach upsets over the last few days. On Saturday evening, I noticed that the water coming out of my bath tap was decidedly brown, and I was thankful for my filter which takes out both dirt and bacteria to the micron level.
This morning, we discovered the explanation for all of this when the following article was published in one of the national newspapers here:

Fears of a disease outbreak are rising in a Nairobi estate after it emerged that raw sewage had leaked into the main water supply in the area. Residents of several estates in Upper Hill have reported diarrhoea and stomach pains after drinking the contaminated water. Last Friday, residents raised the alarm after they noticed their tap water reeked of sewage. They alerted one other not to use the water. "I drank water from the taps on Thursday night and by Friday morning I started suffering from severe stomach pains and diarrhoea. I must have drank the contaminated water," said Dennis Ndunda, a resident.

A burst sewer pipe the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company workers repaired two weeks ago apparently leaked into the water supply system. The water and sewage pipes are only a few metres apart. Several caretakers of apartment buildings in the area confirmed many people have fallen sick and said they suspected it was due to the contaminated water. "Three people have told me they have fallen ill with diarrhoea and stomach pains. This is very serious," said Robinson Gathuku, a caretaker.
By Sunday, engineers from the water company were working to resolve the problem. "It will take a long time before I can go back to drinking tap water. I have lost faith in its safety and quality," said Joris Ngabire, a resident, whose housemate is admitted to hospital.
A huge river of sewage is still gushing through the estate, while the water supply has been cut to avoid further contamination. "Sewage was flowing all over our compound and for the past four days I couldn’t let my children go out to play to protect them from disease," complained Anne Njeri. The residents asked the company to speed up the repair work and restore clean water supply.

Needless to say, I'm even more thankful for my water filter now!!!!!