Temporary ban on drinking city water

Daily Herald article

It should be noted that this pertains to the French side of the island and does not include the desalinated water on the Dutch side. They have totally separate water systems.

Pat--that is correct, that the water systems on each side of the island are totally separate However, I believe the water on the French side is also desalinated water?? On our recent trip, we did not drink any water from the tap, as was recommended by our villa rental agency. This is the standard recommendation for this villa, nothing to do with the current water situation. This was not a big deal for me, as I drink almost exclusively bottled water at home. Although at home we use tap water for coffee and we did not, on SXM at the villa. We got 6 two liter bottles of water at Super U for something like 4 E. In the scheme of things, an expense of no consequence, for tourists, at any rate. Much better to be safe than become sick.

My understanding is that the testing for bromates is relatively new. As a visitor who doesn’t cook, brushes my teeth with bottled water, and only drinks bottled water, I’m not concerned. As to French-side restaurants, who are only supposed to cook with bottled water, whether they do or don’t, I’m only there a few weeks a year.

St Barth, which also uses desalinated water, has been under a similar “temporary” ban since last August. If they can’t fix the problem in a hurry then I have less hope for St Martin.

You brush your teeth with bottled water? OK.

I would do that in Mexico but not in St Maarten.

I make ice from bottled water using old fashion ice cube trays. I only use the ice from the ice maker for the cooler.
I wonder if the filters on refrigerator/ freezers would filter out all the bad stuff in the tap water.

Carol, I was thinking the same thing. I have a hard to break habit of rinsing my tooth brush under running water. On St Martin (both sides), we have cooked, rinsed fruits and vegetable under running water and all of the other things except drink it. It would be a little nerve racking to remember to not do this continuously.

Now, I was in Punta Cana 6 or 7 years ago for a location wedding and made the mistake of rinsing my tooth brush under the running water. Well, Montezuma Revenge greeted me the next morning. I tell you, that was horrendous. This was in the middle of our stay. The rest of it was the most nerve racking stay I have ever had anywhere. Never been back or had the desire.

A nice addition at LaVista: They have a supplemental water filtration system. Tap water is fine.

I've always have drank tap water on the Dutch side without any problems. Nice that LaVista has that but not sure if really needed. Except for the last 2 years I have been drinking Flamingo tap water since 1999 and at a Villa close by for the last 2. Have all my fingers, toes and only 1 head that most of the time functions as it's supposed to.

Soooooo can I rinse my toothbrush with tap water or no? On the French side.

I think I would reread Maranjo’s post and NOT use tap water for anything, particularly tooth brushing, if I was staying anywhere on the French side.

That said, we’ve mostly stayed on the Dutch side of the island for over 45 years at least annually and we have always used tap water with no side effects. Don’t ask me why, but I buy two gallons of water every trip and use it exclusively for making my coffee and iced tea. But for everything else, including drinking water, tooth brushing and ice cubes, we use the tap water. Neither of us has ever had an issue on the island and having experienced a mild bout in Puerto Vallarta (ice cubes....) I can only say THANK YOU, GOD!, because it was brutal.

Filters don't do anything for bromates. The ban is on the French side, La Vista is on the Dutch side. Either the Dutch side city water doesn't have the same bromate problem as the French side, they have a different standard, or they don't test for it.

For many years I rented villas which often used cistern water, which was free, rather than the more expensive city water. So yes, I brush my teeth with bottled water.

I do not drink, brush my teeth or use cistern water for anything but filling the pool and watering the garden.
Bird poops on roof, rain washes roof to gutter and fills the cistern.

Refreshing.

GEBE responds

I would like the definition of "regularly tested"....

Good enough for me.

quite a concern reading this for some....................always brush teeth there with tap water..boil the kettle with tap water(should be ok) and have ice and water from fridge that has a filter...never been ill. Do drink bottled water but again have filter back home with the fridge and never been sick with ice......unless there is some raging disease going on in the french side, not going to change..........I mean between getting run over by a lunatic biker, getting shot, robbed and having the raging poos through bad water, why even come to St. Martin......................? Got the SXM blues, got two weeks free end of the week, do I even consider this delight so soon after just getting back................airfares at last minute ridiculous, unlike Europe where you can get a deal, I mean they reduce prices to get seats filled, not increase them!!! But hey, life is short..........I will take a few days of squitty runs to be back:-))))))

Since it stated not to use the French side water to prepare food, what about the restaurants on the French side? Should we avoid them?

https://frenchtogether.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Ce-nest-pas-la-mer.mp3

Doesn't open to anything other than a french phrase.

There is good info concerning this issue on Jeff Berger’s Everything St Maarten fb page.

what does it basically say please?......don't/wont do facebook

Here is what they said.
"The sanitary control of water intended for consumption is part of the prerogatives of the Regional Health Agency (ARS). In St. Martin, the formal and institutional search for bromates in drinking water does not seem to have been done up to the measurements made in May 2019. The only existing measures available to the EEASM are sporadic self-analyses carried out by the delegatee (GDE at the time) since 2010, when this measurement has been implemented by the decree of January 21, 2010 amending the decree of January 11, 2007 concerning the program of sampling and analysis of health control for water supplied by a distribution network.

While this element may at first glance seem worrisome since the production process has not changed since 2006, it is important that no major crisis related to the ingestion of bromates and the symptoms described by the ARS has been identified since then. The current measures are therefore precautionary.

New analyzes of the bromate level have already been ordered by the EEASM with a strong demand for shorter delays in the restitution of the results so that the necessary corrective and / or palliative measures can be adapted as quickly as possible.

Reaction and outlook

The EEASM is of course very concerned by this new data and is naturally engaged in increasing the quality of water delivered to the population. However, studies of the impact of bromates at such low levels on health are scarce, as the phenomenon has been globally identified only recently.

Since the production systems and production conditions are the same in Saint-Martin and Saint Barts which experiences a similar bromate-related situation, the EEASM had already asked its delegatee to both allow self-monitoring of bromate levels and provide the technical means for these rates to comply with the applicable standards (10 μg / l in France). Concerning the analyzes and deadlines which alter the rates, the material for immediate measures is now available locally in Saint Barts where the investment has been made by a private laboratory. Also, it is important to note that the rates recorded by the ARS in Saint-Martin in May 2019 are three times lower than those found in Saint Barts .

In the first time, physico-chemical parameters along the production and distribution chain of drinking water will be modified in order to reduce these bromate levels.

In the medium term, the EEASM has started a deep renovation of the production system with a deadline of 8 months and the "bromate" date is naturally taken into account in this rehabilitation of the production tool.

The EEASM also intends to extend its partnership with the ARS so as to better the exchange of information between the two structures, particularly those related to water quality analyzes, and to improve the alert system for the population and the possible crisis management.

The bromates that develop over the distribution system are a direct consequence of the production practices and are a common element in all waters produced by desalination and are thus more and more monitored all over the world.

Immediate distribution to the most vulnerable

Without delay, the Collectivité of Saint-Martin and the EEASM have decided to distribute water to the most vulnerable populations (Hospital, EHPAD, schools and public services more generally), The means of distribution and the beneficiaries may be adapted depending on the results and progress made to reduce these bromate levels.

Keep yourself posted!

We invite the general public to follow the press releases that the Collectivité and the EEASM will elaborate as the situation evolves.

Reminder of the instructions issued under the precautionary principle:

Prohibition of drinking, for cooking or brushing teeth

The water can be used for the following purposes: WC, cleaning surfaces, washing clothes and dishes, showers while being careful not to swallow it.

There is no risk of dermal absorption."

thx Scuba,
But as one poster asked...........what do restaurants cook with and wash the dishes with? Don't suppose they care...

Bromate in high levels over a period of time can cause cancer. It does not immediately cause sickness when swallowed.
I would still take precautions when ordering a frozen drink where alot of ice is used. It is a good idea to use bottled water for making coffee and when brushing your teeth just pour mouthwash on your toothbrush and also floss. The question if the restaurants will take this Bromate threat seriously is anyones guess. Drinks straight up no ice and food choices that would not require water is a good idea.

Update

I'm not sure I'm understanding this story, but apparently it is saying that these tests have not been performed at all since 2010?

Bromates can be removed with reverse osmosis filtration or maybe activated charcoal - not sure how much charcoal would be needed. So while yes filtration works, pretty sure most kitchen filter cartridges are not using reverse osmosis - but might have activated charcoal.

As an aside
If both sides use desalination, then the raw sea water used by both sides would contain the same mount of bromides. Bromates are created from bromides.

Bromate creation would be dependent on how the water is processed - testing would be required to determine how much is created.

At least the Fr side came out with numbers, the Dutch side said all is good - I would prefer the Dutch side also came out with numbers so we could see for ourselves

J&B

According to various articles the Dutch and French have different systems and different processes. Dutch side water does not have the Bromate in their water like the French.