What to do when you suspect your water is contaminated

Stop using it for drinking and cooking

Switch to a known safe source for drinking, cooking, preparing infant formula, washing food eaten raw, making ice and brushing teeth. Washing and flushing can usually continue.

Decide whether treatment is appropriate

If the concern is microbiological, for example after flooding, a pipe break or a loss of pressure, boiling is effective. If the concern is chemical, for example a fuel or solvent smell, an oily film, a chemical spill nearby, or an unusual colour after industrial activity, do not boil and do not drink it. Boiling will not help and can concentrate the contaminant.

If you do not know which it is, treat it as chemical and use another source.

Tell the people who can act

• Your water provider or water district, who can check pressure, mains and tanks.
• Your barangay or city or municipal health office.
• Other households on the same line, especially those with infants or sick members.

Report it on this platform as well. A shortage or contamination report records the location, what you observed and when. Reports stay unverified until a moderator reviews them, and they are shown as unverified so nobody mistakes one observation for a confirmed emergency.

What not to do

Do not add bleach or any other chemical in an improvised dose. Household disinfection needs the right product and the right concentration, and guessing produces either ineffective treatment or water that is itself harmful.

Do not assume one clear glass means the problem has passed. Contamination can be intermittent, especially where pressure is fluctuating.

Seek care for symptoms

Anyone with persistent vomiting, bloody stool, high fever or signs of dehydration needs medical attention. This is particularly urgent for infants and older adults.