June 19, 2007 Silang, Cavite, Philippines …. [Gina Wahlen/AIIAS/ANN]
The June 9 discovery of diesel fuel leaking into the water supply of the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies has left the campus without water now for a week and a half. A fuel filter on a generator that had been vandalized was found as the source of the leak.
Though the leak was fixed that day, campus officials are still determining how to clean the school's water system that services the campus's nearly 700 residents.
Drinking water was brought to campus in trucks the day of the discovery by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency from the Adventist Church's Southern Asia-Pacific region's headquarters nearby.
There were no reported cases of sickness caused by the contamination.
“In a sense, this experience has drawn us into community with the large proportion of the global population that does not have abundant pure water,” Graeme Perry, dean of the school of graduate studies and acting university president, wrote in a June 14 letter to campus staff and residents.
The AIIAS administration is continuing to work with local authorities and other consultants in order to minimize the environmental impact and to restore a clean water supply.
Perry said the results of hydrocarbon testing of the water will be available by the end of the week.
Copyright (c) 2007 by Adventist News Network.
