One-third of urban water systems in Serbia supply unhealthy water, while the quality of water from water systems in rural areas, particularly south of the Sava and Danube rivers, is questionable because control is performed irregularly or not at all.
This is what the new report compiled by the Batut Institute says, which also reveals that there are as many as 15 places in the country where water systems are 100 per cent defective.
In addition to water that is dangerous to health because it springs from land that is full of heavy metals, Serbia also has places such as Žagubica and Čajetina that have first-rate spring water.
However, due to unprofessional treatment and the being transported via inadequate water systems, water from these places reaches consumers polluted.
According to the Report on the Sanitary Suitability of Drinking Water for the Year 2021, out of a total of 156 public water supply systems inspected in urban areas, only 105 or 67.3 per cent are classified as satisfactory in Serbia.
Vojvodina has the highest number of water supply systems with physico-chemical defects (8 out of a total of 12 defective), as well as water systems with associated defects (20 out of 22), while the highest number of microbiologically defective water supply systems is found in the Šumadija region and Western Serbia (11 out of 17).
In addition to the water in Vojvodina, which is defective at the source itself, the Batut report shows that people living in areas with first-class spring water also drink contaminated water. Thus, for example, Čajetina, Bajina Bašta, Sjenica, Žagubica, Petrovac na Mlavi are on the list of towns with microbiologically defective water.
(N1, 18.10.2022)
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