Suspected sabotage: partial all-clear for drinking water in Mechernich

The city of Mechernich has given the all-clear in the face of possible drinking water contamination: Investigations by a special fire department unit have shown that the water is not biologically or chemically contaminated, a city spokesman said this morning. Citizens are allowed to use it again for showering and washing. The water should be boiled as a precautionary measure before drinking, he said.

After discovering a cut fence at a drinking water tank in the city on Thursday evening, the Mechernich health department warned against using the water. The drinking water could be contaminated to the point of being hazardous to health. 10,000 people are affected by the warning, and the German army base in Mechernich also gets its water from the water tank, according to the message on the website of the city in the Euskirchen district.

Further investigations are being carried out into bacterial contamination, the spokesman said on Friday. Cultures would have to be created for this, and the results may not be available until after the weekend. This is why people are being asked to boil drinking water.

The city announced that the warning was also issued in light of recent incidents at the German army base in Cologne. The Cologne-Wahn air force barracks in Cologne were closed on Wednesday – there was suspicion that the water supply might have been sabotaged. A hole was discovered in a fence in front of the barracks’ waterworks, and the German army also reportedly found “abnormal water values” and initiated further investigations.

According to the city, it was also discovered on Thursday afternoon in Mechernich that a fence on the site of the drinking water reservoir had been cut through.