Australia Water Scare Disputed

By Peter James Spielmann Copyright 1998 Associated Press August 29, 1998

Experts disagreed today over whether microscopic bugs that have infested Sydney's water supply for the second time in a month are harmless algae or dangerous parasites.

Dr. Jerry Ongerth of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of New South Wales questions the results of tests that have concluded the city's tap water was highly contaminated.

Ongerth said the tests seemed to exaggerate the problem, claiming the water was as contaminated as raw sewage, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Such results, he said, were "not believable at face value."

The newspaper quoted Ongerth as saying his own tests showed the water contained different types of harmless algae that look very similar to giardia and cryptosporidium, two parasites that the New South Wales state Health Department says have been found in high levels in the city's water system.

Sydney Water today rejected Ongerth's analysis, saying its researchers are confident the water contained the harmful parasites.

"We're certainly aware of incidents in the past with some dispute over algae cells," Sydney Water spokesman Rod Metcalfe said.

Outbreaks of the parasites in the city's water were reported in late July and again this week. Almost all of the city's 3.7 million residents have been told to boil tap water for at least one minute or risk illness from the parasites.

The Health Department has reported the level of cryptosporidium found in water samples was 12 times higher than the levels reported in an outbreak in Milwaukee in 1993, the worst such outbreak ever recorded in the United States. The Milwaukee contamination contributed to the deaths of about 100 people, many with immune systems already weakened by AIDS or cancer.

However, there has been no statistically significant increase in illness during the two recent outbreaks in Sydney.

Sydney's water problems have proven to be a major headache for organizers of the 2000 Olympics.

Sydney Olympics chief executive Sandy Holloway said the problem needed to be fixed quickly and permanently or the city's international reputation would be tarnished.

"We are on show. For the water scare to happen once ... could be dismissed as a quirky aberration," Holloway said. "For it to happen twice suggests we have a problem that needs rapid resolution."

An inquiry, assisted by water experts from the United States, is underway to determine the source of the outbreak. Authorities have blamed heavy rainfall in the Sydney catchment area in recent weeks.

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