This situation has altered several aspects of the daily life of Uruguayanswho are in front of a tap water that has a different flavor and that it comes with warnings from the Ministry of Public Health for hypertensives and people with heart or kidney problems.
In addition, the alteration impacts on the petsas well as in various household items and in the sale of various inputs that need water.
How does the change in water affect people?
The recommendations of the MSP to hypertensives, people with different diseases and pregnant women
This Tuesday the MSP recommended hypertensive people Do not consume more than one liter of tap water per day, after meeting with a commission of experts. This suggestion was also addressed to the people with chronic kidney disease, heart failure, cirrhosis and pregnant women.
Regarding the population that does not have any of these aforementioned health problems, the Ministry recommends that “maintain the usual daily water consumption that can be entirely OSE water”.
You drink
Alejandra Girona, coordinator of the Observatory for the Right to Food at the University of the Republic (Udelar), warned that babies who are fed only formula milk are exceeding the recommended sodium intake from consuming OSE waterafter changes in levels.
Girona referred to “cases of children who are only formula-fed, for example in the first month of life”. “We are seeing that these recommended intakes are vastly exceeded if these children were only formula-fed,” Indian.
This Tuesday the MSP also recommended that do not add salt to food in children starting semi-solid/solid diets (infants up to 2 years old), and requested that “if possible”, “mineral water” is used to prepare infant formulas.
water pressure
In addition to doubling the sodium and chloride values in the water, OSE also decreased water pressure in the metropolitan area to combat drought.
“yellowish” or “white” water
Due to the “shortage of accumulated rainfall in the basin of the San Francisco Stream Reservoir”which feeds the town of Minas, OSE announced in a statement that reduced the extraction of water from that reservoir in order to prolong its operation until new rainfall is recorded.
The measure has allowed maintain the “providing service” by increasing the production of water from the backup system from the Santa Lucia River at Paso Campanero and stabilize the reservoir’s reserves.
OSE warns that other measures adopted, such as the “pressure regulation in the distribution network”, could cause the presence of air in the water and the appearance of “whitish water” or yellowish coloration due to levels of manganese present in the reservoir. “They are within the limits that ensure that there is no health risk,” express.
Consumption and supply of drums
During the last days it was found a “sharp increase” in the consumption of bottled water in stores and supermarkets from the country. The president of the Center for Retail Storekeepers, Baristas, Self-Service Workers and Allied Workers of Uruguay (Cambadu), Daniel Fernández, told The Observer than selling bottled water It doubled in recent weeks in local businesses (or stores).
In addition, he asserted that the increase in demand for bottled water both common bottles and drums were registered.
Both the general manager of the Association of Supermarkets of Uruguay (ASU), Daniel Menéndez, as well as the supermarket chains consulted in particular, assured that They do not see problems with the supply of these products.
What other things in daily life does the change in water affect?
Pets
The social organizations Animales Sin Hogar and Plataforma Animalista warned that the increase in salinity in the water could cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs and catsin addition to more serious damage in animals with kidney or heart problems.
However, the advisor to the Presidency Gastón Cossia assured The Observer that even though They are receiving “many inquiries” about the change in water levelsthe “levels of milligrams of sodium per liter of water are within normal parameters for a dog or a cat”, so “They do not represent a health risk.”
In any case, the adviser indicated that they have “warned” people with animals that have some “heart or kidney failure” that “consider using bottled water” for your pets, since in those cases, “some risk” can occur.
the mate
Nelson Bracesco, a master’s degree in biotechnology from the School of Medicine of the University of the Republic, told The Observer that changes in water values only affect “the flavor” of the mate.
The scientist indicated that the MSP warnings to people with hypertension or renal or cardiac pathologies “they are the same” with hot water: “The mate it will not protect us from salinity if we are hypertensive or if we have an associated kidney pathology. Are the same precautions consumption of mate water with tap water”.
Asked about whether boiling water can help reduce the amount of salt for yerba consumption, Bracesco ruled it out. “When you boil the water, the solution remains as it is. All the minerals remain. The concept is: whether you boil the water or drink it from the tap, that water has the same concentrations,” Indian.
the pipes
A report from the Technological University (UTEC) indicates that “consuming drinking water that contains chloride is not harmful to health,” but “High amounts of chloride can give a salty taste to water and corrode pipes, pumps and fittings.”
The coordinator of the postgraduate course in Sanitary Engineering and Sanitation, Héctor García, told The Observer that chloride gives “a corrosive power” to water that affects distribution systems if a high concentration is maintained for a long time, when OSE’s decision is presented as “temporary”. “These effects are seen in years”he added.
coffee preparation
Max García, barista and Nestlé coffee expert for Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay told Coffee and Business that if the coffee is prepared with mineral water it is better, since “a good water will reveal the true flavor of that coffee bean”, while a water that is very salty will affect the taste, because “salt opens the coffee”.
