NNGYK: Drinking water is safe to drink in Hungary

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The NNGYK told MTI on Friday that the country’s drinking water quality is continuously monitored by drinking water service providers and the public health authority, at least four times a year in every settlement, and even daily in the largest systems. During the tests, more than 60 different parameters are checked, including chemical substances and microbiological characteristics – they added, highlighting that the vast majority of test results nationwide met the requirements by 99-100 percent. They noted that the rare, occasional problems are typically caused by technical errors, which occurred after, for example, a pipe burst or work affecting the network. The most common reason for temporary chemical objections was the appearance of disinfection by-products, elevated nitrite concentrations or pesticide residues, which could be caused by malfunctions in the water treatment technology or technical defects in the wells. The public health authority investigated the cause of the occasional water quality problems in each case and ordered the necessary measures to ensure a safe drinking water supply – they wrote.

Based on more than 51 thousand samples and nearly 800 thousand measurement results, drinking water is safe to consume in 97 percent of Hungarian settlements

In 66 percent of these, there were no deviations in any parameter, and in 34 percent only mild, harmless bacteriological or chemical deviations occurred (for example, mild turbidity, a small increase in iron or manganese, or low water hardness). Occasional, quickly remedied water quality problems affected 2.8 percent of settlements – they added. According to the announcement, in only eight settlements – 0.2 percent of the country’s settlements – did the arsenic content of the water exceed the permissible limit due to natural geological conditions.

In these places, the population has access to safe drinking water through containerized water purification equipment, while water quality improvement investments are underway

The priority task of the NNGYK is to independently and professionally assess the quality of drinking water in Hungary, they announced, adding that the current data clearly proves that Hungary’s drinking water is not only safe, but also of excellent quality.

MTI