Drinking water warning issued for capital region

Bacteria has been detected in drinking water in Tórshavn, Argir, Nólsoy, Velbastað and Kaldbak.

Tórshavn City Council has published a map with affected areas. Residents in the red areas on the map are advised to boil their tap water before drinking it.

The boil water advisory will most likely be in effect until Monday, according to Bjørn Holm, who heads Tórshavn’s water purification plant.

Possibly elsewhere too

“We have detected high levels of bacteria, especially E. coli, in the raw water. We also found small amounts of bacteria in the purified water,” he explained.

“The bacteria levels in the drinking water are not high but enough to issue a boil water warning.”

He added that since the affected areas within the capital region are physically separated, it is not unlikely that bacteria may also be present in drinking water elsewhere in the country.

This news piece is based on a short radio interview in which Holm did not provide any advice to residents outside the capital region.

Updates will be available at torshavn.fo (possibly only in Faroese).

More Faroese News in English.