ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Authorities in southern Sulaimani province have advised against drinking tap water after thousands of people visited hospital with gastrointestinal complaints within the past few days.
"Until now, we cannot make a definite decision to say what the cause is,” Ramazan Aref, head of the Sharazoor Water Directorate, told Rudaw on Friday. He said they have taken water samples for testing.
In a safety guideline, the General Hospital of Shahid Raouf on Thursday instructed residents to “use only bottled water, meaning water from water production facilities, for drinking,” and avoid consuming municipal water.
The hospital also requested the central health directorate in Sulaimani to send a committee to investigate.
More than 2,500 people have sought treatment in the past three days, according to hospital management.
Residents of Sharazoor voiced concerns about contaminated municipal water and the lack of access to potable water.
In order to make the municipal water consumable, they "let it sit for an hour or half an hour until it becomes clear,” said resident Hersh Ahmad.
The water also has a nasty smell, he added.
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.
In September, people in Halabja complained about a stream contaminated by waste that caused illness and damaged crops.
Sazgar Salih contributed to this report
