Tap water

The tap water in Lyubimets is now safe for drinking and cooking show the new tests made yesterday. The indicators are good and arsenic concentration, for which water use was limited, is already within normal.

Drinking water in the southern Bulgarian town of Lyubimets is not safe for human consumption due to an increased arsenic content found in it. The problem affects about 8,000 people who as of today are unable to use the tap water for drinking and cooking, although it will not be stopped so that it can be used for all other needs.

The project is an interactive map of the free sources of drinking water in Bulgaria. It aims to encourage the use of tap water instead of bottled, thereby reducing contamination with disposable plastic bottles. The map is open and filled in by volunteers.

Despite the draconian austerity adopted during an eight-year bailout program to keep the country's debt-laden economy afloat, the quality of tap water reaching Greek households remains one of the best in the world, officials told Xinhua in recent interviews on the occasion of of the World Water Day on Friday.

Several areas in Iraklio on the island of Crete suffered from temporary water cuts on Monday due to damage to a major water supply pipe, according to a statement by the municipal water and sewage authority.

The areas affected were Katsambas, Karteros and Prassa in Kallithea.

Local reports said the damage to the pipe was caused by nearby private construction work.

The Interior Ministry on Friday approved the disbursement of 250,000 euros in emergency funding to repair water pipes in western Attica that were damaged in last week's deadly floods.

Microplastic contamination has been found in tap water in countries around the world, leading to calls from scientists for urgent research on the implications for health.

Speaker of the House Zoe Konstantopoulou on Thursday banned the use of plastic water bottles in Greek Parliament in another of her weird and wacky measures. Conservative New Democracy Minister Yiannis Tragakis asked for a bottle of water during a meeting of the Committee on Institutions and Transparency.