​Bacterial failure confirmed as 'total coliform' - eliminated by chlorine, says Govt

Last week's bacterial failure in one of the truck supplies from Spain has been confirmed as being due to the presence of 'total coliform', bacteria found in the soil or human and animal waste.

This has been confirmed in answers to GBC questions by the Government, which says the bacteria has been eliminated by the increased levels of chlorine in the water introduced by AquaGib to further protect the water supply.

GBC asked when the bacteriological failure was detected, and whether the test was run before the water was pumped into the system.

The Government says water delivered to Gibraltar over the past two weeks from Spain has always been EU compliant as potable. It adds that AquaGib, in coordination with the Environmental Agency, carried out further bacterial tests on each supply delivered, and that these take 24 hours from the arrival of the water for the results to be effective.

It says the bacteria has been successfully eliminated - adding AquaGib, the Director of Public Health, and the Environmental Agency are all content with the quality of the water being supplied.

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