Tap water was declared unsafe for human consumption in hundreds of villages and towns in western France after the heavy rains which fell in the first 10 days of January.
Local authorities in Normandy, Brittany and Pays de Loire issued warnings as nitrates from fertilisers, flushed into rivers or underground water tables by the storms, rose above the maximum safety levels.
In hundreds of rural areas, the tap water was declared unsafe for pregnant women and babies, after nitrate levels rose above 50 milligrams a litre. In many areas the nitrate level reached 100 milligrams or more, making the water unsafe for the entire population.
Some authorities advised people to buy mineral water while others supplied clean water in tanks. In one case, two districts combined their different sources of water, one over the permitted level of nitrates, the other with too many sulphates, to produce a concoction in which ...
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