Tap water considered “excellent” in mainland Portugal – DNOTICIAS.PT
Tap water in mainland Portugal had an “excellent” quality for human consumption in 2020, indicates the annual report of the Regulatory Authority for Water and Waste Services (ERSAR) released today.
Volume 2 of the Annual Report on Water and Waste Services, relating to “Control of the Quality of Water for Human Consumption” last year, concludes that “the safe water indicator maintains its value at 99%, and can be guaranteed to population that can drink tap water with confidence.”
According to an ERSAR press release, the safe water indicator at the consumer’s tap stood at 98.85% in 2020, which represents an increase of two tenths compared to 2019 and confirms the positive evolution since 1993 (50%) and remaining at the level of excellence since 2015.
Data from ERSAR reveal that most municipalities (79%) have percentages equal to or greater than 99% in the water quality indicator, with 15% of municipalities having a percentage of safe water of 100% as no non-compliance is independent. in all analyses.
Only in one municipality – Santo Tirso (91.89%) – were there overall results per municipality with safe water values of less than 95%, a case essentially related to “the breakdown of the water abstraction treatment systems that serve as non-covered schools by the public distribution network, which meant that during this period all the analyzes provided for in the water quality control program were not carried out”.
The situation was overcome by bottled water by the municipality until regularization, in conjunction with the health authority, thus ensuring the protection of human health. of 99.81%”, explains ERSAR.
“In 2020, ERSAR carried out 21 inspection actions to verify compliance with the legal requirements of the water quality regime for human consumption (57% in the North region, 29% in the Center region and 14% in the Alentejo region). It is noted that this number of enforcement actions was conditioned by the state of emergency and mandatory confinements of the Covid-19 pandemic, “says the regulator in the statement.
The strong entity that challenges the challenges of Covid-19, “it was possible to maintain the safety of tap water thanks to the unsurpassed cooperation between the management entities, the ERSAR regulatory entity, health authorities, laboratories and other stakeholders in the process of water quality control”.
“It is this collaboration that the water quality control programs (PCQA) by ERSAR were implemented by all managing entities of public distribution systems without relevant changes and, above all, without any prejudice to the control of the quality of water intended for the human consumption and, inherently, for the protection of human health”, he concludes.