Kathmandu, Aug. 18 -- The Public Health Office, Kathmandu, has urged the public to boil water before drinking, after tests showed the presence of hazardous microbes in samples of drinking water.

Officials say that water samples collected from Chandragiri, Nagarjun and Tokha municipalities on the fringes of Kathmandu Valley were found contaminated with faecal coliform.

"Of 45 samples of drinking water collected on a random basis, the presence of coliform were found in 12 samples," said Saroj Roka, an official at the Public Health Office, Kathmandu. "Faecal coliform was detected in three samples in each of the three municipalities."

Faecal coliforms are microscopic organisms that live in the intestines of warm-blooded animals or their fa...