Tests carried out within the framework of the Clean Drinking Water National Excellence Project with the participation of the ELKH Centre for Ecological Research (CER), the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the University of Miskolc, and the Budapest Waterworks, have confirmed that drinking water in Budapest is of excellent quality in all respects, fully complies with legal requirements, and is also completely safe for your health. The aim of the project, which is being carried out under the professional leadership of Dr Attila Engloner, a senior researcher at CER, is to ensure that high-quality drinking water can be provided in the long term, even under changing conditions. The results of the current investigation were presented by Dr Márta Vargha, a water hygiene expert at the National Center for Public Health (NNK).
Within the framework of the program, the researchers examined the shore-filtered drinking water supply systems that also provide the drinking water supply of the Hungarian capital for one year. The purpose of this was to analyze the microbial communities that are involved in water purification processes and settle in water networks, as well as to reveal factors that endanger the quality of drinking water – drug residues, pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant microorganisms – which are not covered by routine drinking water tests.
The specialists took samples every two weeks from the Danube as a water base, from wells with coastal filtration, and from various technological and consumer points, with a total of 45-50,000 measurements taken, based on a range of criteria. Although numerous tests are still being evaluated, the results so far are very favorable with regard to micropollutants.
Thanks to the dilution caused by the high water flow of the Danube, micropollutions are present in raw waters at very low concentrations of only a few nanograms. Márta Vargha emphasized that this quantity does not even come close to the amount that poses a risk to human health. The expert also said that the situation regarding the quality of drinking water is favorable not only in relation to the capital, but also across Hungary.
Pollutants entering water can be prevented primarily by purifying wastewater. Traditional wastewater treatment technologies do not completely remove organic micropollutants, but there are plans to introduce so-called quaternary wastewater treatment technologies in Hungary, which are already common in international practice and may be suitable for this purpose.
More information can be found on the project's official website.