Health Minister: Analysis Shows Bucharest Tap Water Chemicals Within Admitted Limits

According to the minister, analyses made by the Bucharest Public Health Directorate showed that trihalomethane concentration in the water was at least at half of the safe limit.

“The values are close to the maximum limit, they are within the limit (…) We are talking about trihalomethane which has a maximum legal value of 100, and the value which was found was of 60.4, so more than half. Trihalomethanes pose risks of cancer, so that is why we recommended caution,” said Pintea.

This comes after Water and Forests Minister Ioan Denes previously announced in Monday that ammonium levels found in Arges river – one of the main tap water sources for the capital – were within admitted limits.

Pintea commented on the information, stating that she did not understand why higher amounts of chlorine were used to clean the water if there was no proven pollution incident.

“If the ammonium was within normal limits, then why was the hyperchlorination done? Specialists say that there is the possibility that the water had a high amount of bacterial contamination, posing other risks, but we did not have that proof”, the minister said.

Bucharest public water company Apa Nova announced last Wednesday that it temporarily upped the chlorine dose used to counter bacteria in tap water due to an influx of water coming from melt ice or snow in its sources.

The company then announced on Thursday that the water distributed to consumers was drinkable, despite the fact that the Health Ministry recommended residents of Bucharest to temporarily refrain from using the water for drinking or cooking the previous evening.

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