In addition to the unprecedented water shortages affecting Mayotte, there is now a new problem. Traces of heavy metals were detected “beyond alert thresholds”. The prefecture has banned the consumption of tap water in part of the archipelago, it announced Tuesday evening.
She adds that “the water is not drinkable and cannot under any circumstances be consumed for the following uses: drinking, food preparation and oral hygiene”, specifying that “given the nature of the parameters detected, neither “Boiling or adding chlorine does not make the water drinkable.” New samples were taken on Tuesday and sent to a laboratory in mainland France to confirm this result.
“We don’t understand”
According to Olivier Brahic, the director general of the regional health agency (ARS) of Mayotte who organized a press conference on Wednesday with the prefect Thierry Suquet, “traces of lead were detected in certain pipes” but the origin of the problem is not identified.
“We don’t have lead pipes, we don’t understand,” continued the director general of the ARS, who specified that “the health risks are not immediate but exist in the medium and long term.” Among the hypotheses put forward is the low level of hill reservoirs, while the poorest department in France is affected by an exceptional drought.
“Water concentrates heavy metals”
“This is a hypothesis that cannot be ruled out,” conceded Olivier Brahic, with Thierry Suquet assuring for his part that “if the reservoirs show traces of heavy metals, we will not use them.” In July, Estelle Youssouffa, Liot MP from Mayotte, told the National Assembly “that when reserves are at their lowest, water concentrates in heavy metals and other minerals such as fluorine, manganese, arsenic or sulfates”.
Affected by an unprecedented water shortage due to an exceptional drought, a lack of infrastructure and investment, the inhabitants of Mayotte already only have access to water two days out of three.