Lithuania’s drinkable tap water is one of the best in Europe, however, water originating from smaller sources sometimes contains a surplus of fluorine and iron, reported the daily newspaper ‘Lietuvos Rytas’ on Monday.

Although noted for its high standards of drinkable water, in some Lithuanian regions there is considerable room for improvement – said Vilija Galdikiene, chief specialist of the Food Department of the State Food and Veterinary Service.

Galdikiene suggests that this is due to the fact that all drinking water in Lithuania runs underground. It is well protected from environmental pollution and therefore, the microbiological indicators observed are to a good standard.

The newspaper claims that only the inhabitants of Australia and Denmark can enjoy water of a similarly high quality.

In the vast majority of other European states, public water supply is sourced from the surface water of rivers or lakes. With this water, chemical cleansing is necessary which compromises the quality of its taste and nutritional value.

We can confidentially drink tap water without boiling or filtrating it. However, it is unlikely that we would like to taste the brown-coloured or rancid-smelling water supplied in Inkaklial, Silute district or Naiviai, Panevezys district – says V. Galdikiene.

Galdikiene believes the biggest problem of Lithuania’s publicly supplied drinking water to be the high concentrations of iron. In North-West Lithuania, 93 water sources supplying drinking water exceed the legal limit of fluoride concentration, writes ‘Lietuvos Rytas’.

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