REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Thursday, Feb 26, 2004

A SHIRE-wide ban on Tweed drinking water was lifted, but Uki residents still had to boil all their water.

Tweed Shire Council put out a health alert, warning people not to drink or use Tweed water unless it was boiled first.

Regular testing found abnormal levels of the potentially deadly Escherichia coli, E coli, bacteria. However, a second round of testing showed only water from the small community of Uki to be contaminated.

For Uki’s population of more than 500, it meant no consumption of water for drinking, brushing teeth or making ice unless the water had been boiled first, but the rest of the shire’s 80,000 residents were breathing a sign of relief.

While victims of E coli poisoning generally receive nothing more serious than a stomach bug, the microorganism can cause death.

More than 60 people died from E coli-related infections in the US in 2003 with one death the subject of a legal battle.

The Tweed was adding to those statistics after it was revealed the positive reading for the whole shire probably occurred when the Uki sample accidentally contaminated others during testing.

Sharon Whitelock, whose whole family had been struck down by stomach bugs, was relieved to see the water alert lifted.

“Hopefully we will all stop getting sick now,” she said.

Holly Czinke of Banora Point said the first she had heard of the alert was when she read reports in the Bulletin. She said she was relieved the warning had turned out to be unnecessary.