Drinking clean and safe tap water, a reality in all EU countries.
Something as basic as drinking clean and safe tap water is a reality in all EU countries, and some of them make the lists of the safest drinking water countries worldwide. Do you know why? Since the 1980’s European regulations have obliged countries to test the drinking water on several substances to make it clean and safe and the European Commission adopted in February a proposal for a revised drinking water directive to improve the quality of drinking water and provide greater access and information to citizens.
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development), publishes every year the list of the countries with better quality tap water, with the help of authorities like the World Health Organization. This year, the 7 countries with the best water quality are:
7. United Kingdom
6. Sweden
5. Germany
4. Singapore
3. New Zealand
2. Canada
- Switzerland.
You can basically drink clean tap water in all EU countries, although it is recommended, when travelling, to ask a local for advice, to be better safe than sorry. In EU countries like Greece, Romania or Hungary, it is still not recommended to drink it except for in their capitals and big cities. In some non-EU countries like Ukraine, Belarus or Albania it is not recommended to drink tap water at all.
Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes. Improved water supply and sanitation, and better management of water resources, can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction. Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio. Absent, inadequate, or inappropriately managed water and sanitation services expose individuals to preventable health risks.
Financial contributions out of the EU budget have also helped the EU countries to further increase the quality. Another amazing achievement of the EU and reason enough to be proud to say #IamEuropean!
More info: david.vidal@europarl.europa.eu
