[캐나다] 앨버타 오노웨이 수돗물서 과망간산칼륨 다량 검출

지난 2월 28일 앨버타주 오노웨이 타운(Alberta town) 지역의 수도꼭지에서 분홍색 수돗물이 나와 주민들이 불편을 겪었다. 

이는 물에 과망간산칼륨이 다량 함유되어 벌어진 것으로 추측된다. 크라스노우(Krasnow) 시장은 이 물이 결코 인체에는 유해하지 않다고 밝혔다.

칼륨염으로도 알려진 과망간산칼륨은 일반적으로 폐수 등에서 철과 황화수소를 제거하는데 사용되는 화학 살균제이다. 오노웨이 당국은 페이스북을 통해 1천여 명의 주민들에게 사과했으며 시장은 보도가 나간 몇 시간 뒤에야 웹사이트를 통해 사과문을 게재했다. 

[원문보기]

Tap water turns pink in Onoway, Alberta

Residents in one central Alberta town woke up to pink water running from their taps on Tuesday. 

The Town of Onoway apologized to its 1,000 residents via a Facebook post, and said that the bright color was caused by routine flushing, using potassium permagnate and should not cause concern. 

"Yesterday, during normal line flushing and filter backwashing, a valve seems to have stuck open allowing potassium permanganate to get into the sump reservoir," the statement read. "The reservoir was drained, however some of the chemical still made it into the distribution system. While it is alarming to see pink water coming from your taps, potassium permanganate is used in normal treatment processes to help remove iron and manganese and residents were never at risk."

The statement did not come until hours after the first reports of the odd color surfaced, and Mayor Dale Krasnow apologized via the town website on Tuesday.

"We were never advised by Alberta Environment to issue a public advisory and all indications are that there was never a public health risk," Krasnow said. "Could the town have done a better job of communicating what was going on yesterday to our community -- absolutely, without a doubt. And we do apologize for that."

Potassium permanganate, also known as potassium salt, is a chemical disinfectant commonly used to remove iron and hydrogen sulphide from well water and waste water.

[출처 = Water World / 2017년 3월 8일]