Mineral Oil Drinking Water Pollution Accident in Slavonski Brod, Croatia

21. rujna 2008. godine u Slavonskom Brodu dolazi do prodora mazuta iz toplinskih podstanica u toplovode, zatim u cijevi koje vode toplu vodu do slavina za toplu i hladnu vodu u stanovima. Cilj je ovog rada prikazati tijek događaja zbog nezgode i postupke koji bi se mogli primijeniti u eventualnim sličnim situacijama. Kemijski parametri “A”-analize definirani Pravilnikom o zdravstvenoj ispravnosti vode za piće (Narodne novine 47/08) određeni su spektrofotometrijskim i titrimetrijskim metodama, dok su mikrobiološki pokazatelji analizirani metodama membranske filtracije i određivanja ukupnog broja bakterija. Za analizu mineralnih ulja upotrijebljena je metoda infracrvene spektroskopije. Epidemiološku obradu stanovnika proveli su epidemiolozi. Ispiranje vodovodnih cijevi obavljeno je vodom i detergentom BIS O 2700. Nezgoda prodora mazuta u pitku vodu trajala je od 21. rujna do početka studenoga 2008. godine. Razlog nastanka nezgode jest kvar izmjenjivača za toplu vodu u toplinskim podstanicama koji je prouzročio miješanje vode iz toplovoda u kojem ima i mazuta, s toplom vodom za stanove na slavinama. U tom su razdoblju analizirana ukupno 192 uzorka vode: 174 uzorka na “A”-analizu, 192 uzorka na mineralna ulja te 5 uzoraka na policikličke aromatske ugljikovodike (PAH) i aromatske ugljikovodike: benzen, toluen, etilbenzen i ksilen (BTEX). Mineralna ulja bila su prisutna iznad maksimalno dopuštene koncentracije (MDK) u 55 uzoraka vode, “A”-analiza nije odgovarala u dva slučaja, a PAH i BTEX bili su ispod MDK. Za uspješnost rješavanja ovakvih situacija potreban je multidisciplinarni pristup s jasnim ovlastima svih institucija.On 21 September 2008, heavy oil penetrated the drinking water supply in Slavonski Brod, Croatia. The accident was caused by the damage of heat exchange units in hot water supply. The system was polluted until the beginning of November, when the pipeline was treated with BIS O 2700 detergent and rinsed with water. Meanwhile, water samples were taken for chemical analysis using spectrometric and titrimetric methods and for microbiological analysis using membrane fi ltration and total plate count. Mineral oils were determined with infrared spectroscopy. Of the 192 samples taken for mineral oil analysis, 55 were above the maximally allowed concentration (MAC). Five samples were taken for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene analysis (BTEX), but none was above MAC. Epidemiologists conducted a survey about health symptoms among the residents affected by the accident. Thirty-six complained of symptoms such as diarrhoea, stomach cramps, vomiting, rash, eye burning, chills, and gastric disorders. This is the first reported case of drinking water pollution with mineral oil in Slavonski Brod and the accident has raised a number of issues, starting from poor water supply maintenance to glitches in the management of emergencies such as this