People In La Zurza Continue To Use Water From Pools Even After Cholera Warning

The residents of La Zurza continue to utilize the water from the pools that flow into the Isabela river against the Dominican Ministry of Public Health's advice due to the cholera outbreak discovered in the area, Diario Libre reported.

The authorities fill drinking water every morning in nearby water tanks so that the people can function. Unfortunately, there are locals who are still unaware of this.

While washing his clothes on the concrete wall that surrounds the body of water in the small pool, Eladio Sánchez says it is easiest for him to do his work there.

The water flowing from the source is free of the cholera-causing bacteria, according to Eladio, as it continuously leaks out and flows through a channel that leads to the river.

This channel, however, is full of garbage.

The Isabela river is fed by a number of springs that erupt from the ground, supplying fresh water that appears to be pure and transparent on the surface. The issue is that the same residents in the neighborhood often throw garbage all over the area in and around the pools.

The subsoil is where the effluent from the toilets, which is dumped in septic tanks, eventually ends up. Restrooms in the area frequently flush waste materials directly into rivers.

The pools are linked by channels that have turned into ravines to the Isabela river, which is only a short distance away. This tributary has been shown to contain cholera bacteria.

Although there is a trash can close to the Isabela bank, many people still toss their waste into the river.

The majority of the population that lives in the ravines of La Zurza does not have drinking water through pipes, which is why many go down to the springs.

The mobile hospitals that the Ministry of Public Health set up earlier to treat those who had signs of the fatal sickness were shut down this past Sunday, Dec. 25. Two cases of cholera have arrived at this place, with which there are six positives.

In cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment and the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewerage Corporation (CAASD), the Minister of Public Health, Daniel Rivera, has pledged to clean up and dredge these ponds.