ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Drinking water supplies became contaminated with sewage when pipelines broke after heavy rains earlier this week and this caused an outbreak of gastrointestinal complaints in southern Sulaimani province, a health official said on Saturday.
“As you are aware, over the past few days, heavy rainfall in the district has led to widespread flooding, contaminating the drinking water supply with wastewater. This situation has triggered a surge in diarrhoea cases among residents,” Sabah Hawrami, head of the Sulaimani general health directorate, told journalists in a press conference.
Over 2,500 people sought treatment in Sharazoor district’s Shahid Raouf hospital over the past few days. Residents complained about contaminated municipal water and the lack of access to potable water.
“As we mentioned, the contamination resulted from the mixing of project [treated] water with sewage due to the heavy rains, which broke the sewage pipes,” Harwami said. “This highlights the need for serious attention to Sharazoor's water infrastructure, as the current system is outdated and incapable of handling such volumes.”
Hawarmi said the crisis is under control now and no deaths have been reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Saman Sabir, head of the emergency department of Shahid Raouf hospital, told Rudaw that they are seeing much fewer people seeking out medical care.
“The number of patients in our hospital has reduced. And those affected experience less pain and diarrhoea compared to the previous two days,” Sabir said.
Water pollution remains a persistent issue in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq where municipal and industrial waste is improperly disposed of, often directly into water sources. This pollution poisons the water, causing illness and damaging crops and animals.
