ÇMO Investigates: Carcinogen Risk in Istanbul’s Water

Istanbul Water and Sewer Utility’s (İSKİ) explanation in response to recent complaints about the smell of Istanbul’s water, "the source of the smell is moss; it’s not harmful," failed to allay concerns.

The Chamber of Environmental Engineers (ÇMÖ) İstanbul Branch declared in their press conference today that the water brought in from Sakarya province is dirty to the point that it threatens public health and that the smell of Istanbul’s water has increased for this reason.  

The Chamber, suspecting the presence of carcinogenic THM compounds in the water sent a sample to be examined abroad. They will file a criminal complaint depending on the results.

Wastewater flows into Sakarya River

The drop in dam water levels to 20 per cent due to aridity in Istanbul had brought up the subject of an expected water shortage in the summer.

A short while ago when the water in Melen River failed to meet Istanbul’s needs, water from Sakarya River was carried to Istanbul through the Melen route.

Ankara, Sakarya and Eskişehir Wastewater Purification facilities discharge their water into the Sakarya River. A garbage storage area is located near the Mudurnu River.

This is to say that the provinces and districts within the 824 kilometers neighboring the river deposit their purified, or in the case of some organized industrial regions, unpurified wastewater into this body of stream.

"Even the locals of Sakarya don’t use it"

Consequently, Selahattin Beyaz from ÇMO’s Water and Wastewater Commission said that Sakarya River is widely known to be a basin high in heavy metal pollution and polluted with domestic and industrial wastewater.

"Even the people of Sakarya do not use Sakarya’s water. At the moment, water from this river is given only to Istanbul. If this water were in fact clean, why did they bother with the Melen River for years? They spent all that money. The government knows full well that this water is not clean, but they started pell-mell to draw water from the river in order to prevent a water crisis."

Would the water still smell if it were not brought in from Sakarya?

Beyaz says, "Yes." Because the dam water levels fell, spirulina started forming at the bottom due to the temperature increase. These bacteria cause the smell by producing volatile alcohols of low molecular weight such as MIB and geosmin. 

However, Beyaz asserts the dirty water brought in from Sakarya caused the spirulina to increase twofold. As evidence he shows Sakarya-fed Ömerli dam’s geosmin and MIB levels of 8 mg indicated in İSKİ reports.

İSKİ cannot purify the water

The problem is not just the smell. Water is purified with chlorine, but when the organic substances causing this smell combine with chlorine, they produce the carcinogenic THM compounds. These organic substances need to be filtered out of said water before it makes contact with chlorine.

However the ÇMO said that İSKİ had only just completed the tender for the 200 tons of powder that can filter these substances.

ÇMO demanded as solutions the termination of big projects draining İstanbul’s subsurface and surface water and the urgent preparation of an ecosystem preservation map. (NV/PU)