After years of illness and frustration over the lack of an accurate diagnosis, Stacey Dunn has concluded that the water in her home is the cause of her sickness.

“We’re just getting out of here,” Ms Dunn told The Royal Gazette from the front room of her residence in the Swanston Apartments in Pembroke.

“Right now one of my daughters is sick; both my daughters’ children had to be treated for strep after coming here. It’s obviously bacteria.”

She showed two water tests, independently commissioned through Bermuda Environmental Laboratories, which conclude that the water from her tank is “not microbiologically fit for human consumption”.

Suffering headaches and persistent burning rashes, Ms Dunn first approached this newspaper in February 2015, lamenting that no physician seemed able to diagnose her condition, adding: “Nobody will find me positive for anything; they just keep treating me.”

Noticing a foul odour to her tap water, she commissioned her own tests in March 2015 and again last month.

Each set of tests showed elevated levels of coliform bacteria, often linked with faecal contamination, with the bacterium Escherichia coli appearing this year.

Pathogens are measured in colony forming units, or CFU — the number of viable bacteria in a sample.

All tank water contains a degree of bacteria: the accepted limit for coliform germs, for example, is 4 CFU per 100 millilitres.

As waste from the outdoors makes its way into tanks along with rainwater, they have to be cleaned and treated to prevent levels from accumulating.

Ms Dunn’s test in 2015 showed a coliform CFU count of 11 in the tank, eight for the kitchen sink and six in the bathtub — all higher than the acceptable limit.

The Bermuda Housing Corporation cleaned the tank in November 2015 and advised adding germ-killing bleach to the water, but test results obtained by Ms Dunn last month showed the coliform level had risen to 13, with an E coli level of 7 CFU per 100ml.

Ms Dunn, who has lived in the apartments off Berkeley Road since 2010, said she had suffered poor health, particularly rashes, for the past three years.

She registered a complaint about water contamination but was advised by the Health Department on July 3 that the water appeared to be safe.

The department suggested boiling and chlorinating the water, adding that tanks should be cleaned every six years.

“Cleaning the tank has not worked — maybe a cesspit is leaking and keeps contaminating the water,” Ms Dunn said.

“I just want to get out. We will probably stay with friends.”

• Have you had trouble with your water supply? Contact us at news@royalgazette.com