According to the annual report of the Regulatory Authority for Water and Waste Services (ERSAR): "The safe water indicator maintains its value at 99 percent, being able to guarantee the population that they can drink tap water with confidence".

According to the ERSAR, the safe water indicator stood at 98.85 percent in 2020, which represents an increase of two tenths compared to 2019 and confirms the positive evolution since 1993 (50 percent) and remaining at a level of excellence since 2015.

Data from ERSAR reveals that most municipalities (79 percent) have percentages equal to or greater than 99 percent in the water quality indicator, with 15 percent of municipalities having a percentage of safe water of 100 percent as they did not report any non-compliance.

“In 2020, ERSAR carried out 21 inspections to verify compliance with the legal requirements of the water quality regime for human consumption (57 percent in the North region, 29 percent in the Centre region and 14 percent in the Alentejo region). It should be noted that this number of inspection actions was conditioned by the state of emergency and the mandatory confinements resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic”, says the regulatory authority in the statement.

The entity emphasises that, despite the challenges posed by Covid-19, "it was possible to maintain the safety of tap water thanks to the unsurpassed cooperation between the management entities, the ERSAR regulatory entity, health authorities, laboratories and other stakeholders in the process of water quality control”.

"This cooperation allowed the water quality control programmes (PCQA) approved by ERSAR to be implemented by all managing entities of the public distribution systems without significant changes and, above all, without any prejudice to the control of water quality destined for human consumption and, inherently, for the protection of human health”.