Water Unsafe to drink in Bergen and Oslo?

Tap water in Norwegian capital unsafe

Published: Oct. 17, 2007 at 6:38 PM

OSLO, Norway, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Water and sanitation officials in the Norwegian capital of Oslo issued a warning Wednesday that the city's tap water supply was unsafe for consumption.

The Oslo Department of Water and Sanitation said in a news release that the presence of microscopic Giardia lamblia and cryptosporidium parasites had made tap water unsafe and urged citizens to boil their water before consumption or use, Aftenposten said.

The bacteria found in Oslo's water supply is identical to the microscopic parasites found in the tap water used in the city of Bergen.

Food Safety Authority district chief Kjetil Berg said the parasites, which initially come from animal or human excrement, cause numerous physical symptoms in humans when consumed.

"One can get stomach and intestinal infection. Symptoms can include stomach pain, diarrhea and pyrosis (heartburn). From Bergen we have unfortunately seen that increasing numbers are ill for an extended period and have symptoms of exhaustion," Berg said.

Aftenposten said authorities did not know how long it would take to clear Oslo's water supply of the parasitic infection.

© Copyright United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.

Ok, so this is interesting, especially that one line... "The bacteria found in Oslo's water supply is identical to the microscopic parasites found in the tap water used in the city of Bergen."

Lisa and I allways drink the tapwater here, and weæve never gotten sick from it, but maybe the case in Bergen is new too. Since I don't know that answere, I would suggest all in Bergen and Oslo to refrain from drinking unboiled tapwater until city water officials say that it's safe. I'll ask Lisa to see if she can contact the officials in Bergen about it when she gets home from school, and if she can get an adiquat answere, I'll post it here in Norwegian and English.

For those of you who don't read english very well, a summery in bad Norwegian:

Van i Bergen og Oslo ha bæsje bakterie. Du ma ikke drikke det fra vannkran. Du ma koke alle van fra vannkran før du drikke.

"How come I can’t take toothpaste on a plane but they can put poop in the water?" -Shrinking Wop

AAAS Satalite Images of Atrocities in Burma

I'll do a separate entry tomorrow to talk about how earlier tonight went, but in the meantime, I told Cho Cho (one of the organisers and a political refugee from Burma who hasn't been to his mother land since 1997) that I would post information about AAAS's satellite pictures of Burma here on my blog.

So, here's a few helpful links about the AAAS's work to reveal human rights concerns in Burma.

Satellite images show Burma's plight

NEWS ALERT: Burma Army Burns Christian Karen Villages, Satellite Images Show

Satellite Images Corroborate Eyewitness Accounts of Human Rights Abuses in Burma, AAAS Reports Note that here is where some actual images can be found. In addition to the ones on this news report page, you can find more in the full report at the bottom of the page where it says For your conveniance, you can also view a full copy of the Burma report. It is in pdf format, so your computer should be able to read it. If your computer can't open the document, you can downlowed a copy of Adobe Reader here.

I hope these are useful. God bless,

-Fipher

P.S.

Cho Cho told me there are talks of keeping the marches going every saturday untill the violence stops, the Monks and other political prisinors freed, and Burma is really on its way to democracy. However, he also said that they hadn't made any final decition. I gave him my email address so he can let me know when they've made a decision, but he seems like he's probably a busy man, so if anyone else hears news about further activities in Bergen, could you let me know by posting a comment here about it? Thanks!


Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms ofscience. Truth is what stands the test of experience.-- Albert Einstein