Take water samples yourself and send them for independent testing
On May 21, the Health Unit takes water samples from 20 different points in the Walkerton water system and sends them to the Ministry of Health lab in London, Ontario to be tested for microorganisms. The Health Unit issues a boil-water order as a precautionary measure.
The results come back on May 23. E. coli O157:H7 and another diarrhoea-causing bacterium, Campylobacter jejuni, have been found in several samples. The illness IS being spread by the town's drinking water.
One question has been answered. But almost half the town's population is now ill and there have been two deaths, the first of an eventual seven. How have the bacteria entered the municipal water system?
What would you do to investigate this question?
