Lisbon, Sept. 29, 2026 (Lusa) - The head of Portugal's Water and Waste Sector Regulatory Authority (ERSAR), Vera Eiró, on Tuesday welcomed 11 years of «success» in water quality in Portugal, which reaches «the overwhelming majority of the public».
Commenting on this year's Annual Report on Water and Waste Services (RASARP, Volume 2), which covers 2025, she noted that for the 11th consecutive year the water quality indicator stands at 99%, a figure that combines compliance with the required number of analyses and the results of those analyses.
This indicates, she said, that almost the entire population has good-quality tap water.
«We are talking about 11 million consumers, and amongst these there may be 40 or 50 thousand, or 30 thousand, who at certain times may have tap water» that fails to meet standards, «which must be monitored».
Eiró emphasised that monitoring, tracking and supervision of the entire system involves various bodies, starting with the consumer, who should report any problems they encounter, right through to the managing bodies and health authorities.
«It is a complex monitoring system that then provides us with these results, of which we should be proud as a country.» However, she added, whilst some districts have 100% safe tap water, others are below 99%, and these situations are monitored «on a daily basis», not least because achieving the current figure of success «requires daily and constant work».
She noted that only two municipalities, out of a total of 278, have been flagged for poorer water quality, and that in one of them the problem is purely administrative.
When asked by Lusa whether the floods at the start of the year might have affected water quality – a factor that could be reflected in next year's report – Eiró said that the affected managing bodies had invested in monitoring and that the treatment systems had been fine-tuned.
«We have no record of further non-compliance due to the floods. Whenever there was water coming out of the tap, it met the parameters,» she assured.
This «ability to react» and adapt on the part of the water authorities was also evident during periods of water scarcity, which led to more difficult and demanding treatment processes. «Water scarcity affects the quality of raw water, not the quality of tap water,» she assured.
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