HIGH levels of human faeces have been found in the drinking water in Mpumalanga’s Lowveld, as a result of the heavy flooding in the province and neighbouring Mozambique, warned provincial deputy director of health promotion, Heila Jooste, on Monday. She said laboratory tests indicated that at least 17 of 20 communities were heavily contaminated with the bacteria, E-Coli. “Drinking water contaminated with human faeces places people at risk of diseases… that cause severe dysentery and diarrhoea,” Jooste said. The contamination is a result of severe floods that destroyed water reticulation systems and pumps in the Crocodile River. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has deployed water tanks to the affected areas, while repair work is being done to the water reticulation systems.