Bacteria 48 Times Over the Limit: How Three Illegal Pumps Poisoned All of Gostivar — and When the Water Will Be Drinkable Again

The water crisis in Gostivar, which has so far driven more than 3,100 residents to seek medical help for gastrointestinal problems, is slowly entering the recovery phase — but the answers to how the mass poisoning happened in the first place are becoming ever more disturbing.

According to the investigation by the Basic Public Prosecutor's Office, on June 24 and 25 submersible pumps were illegally installed in an overflow chamber in the village of Vrutok, injecting untreated surface water from an external canal directly into the municipal water system — all to boost pressure in the network during summer shortages. Tests later showed fecal bacteria at 48 times the permitted limit: 2,419.6 versus the maximum allowed 50 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters.

Prosecutors requested 30-day detention for three officials of the public utility company Komunalec — the acting director, the technical head and the chief of the water supply department. Particularly scandalous is the fact that the Center for Public Health in Gostivar had issued a report declaring the water safe to drink just three days before the Food and Veterinary Agency banned its use.

The government has declared a 30-day state of crisis and is sending between 50,000 and 76,000 liters of drinking water to the city by tanker every day. 'The government has decided to provide citizens with drinking water every day for as long as the measures and recommendations of the competent institutions remain in force,' said Ivica Tomovski, director of the Service for General and Common Affairs.

Meanwhile, three experts from Skopje's water utility are on the ground in Gostivar. According to their initial estimates, if the recovery goes to plan, the water network could return to technical use about one week after hyperchlorination, with the water safe to drink again in about two weeks.

The city's health system remains under enormous strain. Health Minister Sasho Klekovski reported that around 200 citizens present at the hospital daily, with 100 interventions in pediatrics and 160 in the infectious disease department in the past 24 hours alone. He appealed to citizens to follow only official channels and sharply criticized doctors who are not epidemiologists or infectologists yet give advice 'for likes and clicks.'

'If violations are established, those responsible must be held accountable,' said Gostivar Mayor Valbon Limani. The epidemic was officially declared on July 19, and the investigation has yet to show whether the chain of responsibility ends with the three detainees — or reaches much deeper.