Pseudomonas aeruginosa. That is the name of the bacterium that has kept Gostivar's water undrinkable for weeks now, confirmed by Stojanče Angelov, head of the Protection and Rescue Directorate.

"These bacteria make the water microbiologically unsafe and unfit for consumption because they are dangerous to health," Angelov said, noting that they cause skin, eye and ear infections, and in vulnerable people can lead to urinary tract and lung infections. Then he added a detail anyone who has worked with antibiotics will recognise: they are highly resistant to many common medicines and antibiotics.

Three tankers for a whole town

The official defence of all of Gostivar today consists of three water tankers. One from the Gostivar fire brigade, one from Bechtel and Enka, and one from Bogovinje. Each has made two runs to residents so far, with a plan to send two more rounds by evening. Distribution is coordinated with the municipal protection and rescue headquarters.

Three tankers. For a town of tens of thousands. Water from the town network may currently be used only as technical water, and hyperchlorination continues. The utility company says samples have been taken for physical-chemical and bacteriological analysis, and the results will show when the water is safe.

The authorities announced that people in Gostivar would have clean water by the end of last week. Here we are at the start of a new week, and the water is still being trucked in. Some residents have moved on to the shops - demand for bottled water has risen, which means people are paying for their own water supply twice.

The number worth holding on to: 4,684

According to the health ministry's report, on 2 August the hospital in Gostivar registered 84 first examinations, 27 more than the previous day's 57. The total number of patients since this began is 4,684.

The ministry stresses that the epidemiological situation is stable and continuously monitored, and that the figure remains well below the peak of 18 July, when 649 examinations were recorded in a single day. That is accurate and it is good news.

But 4,684 people through one hospital because of municipal tap water is not an epidemiological statistic - it is a bill. And it is still unanswered who issued it. The analyses will say when the water is safe again. No analysis will say why it stopped being safe, or who was supposed to prevent that.