Water quality in Switzerland

How good is the water quality in Switzerland?

Does it happen that a consumer in Switzerland opens their tap and the tap water is of poor quality? This article examines what the reasons for poor water quality can be and how good tap water is in Switzerland.

What are the advantages of using tap water?

✔ Most controlled food product in Switzerland (including limit values ​​for drinking water)

✔ Water suppliers are working to meet all high requirements

✔ Basically, the water quality from the tap is very good

What speaks against the direct use of tap water?

⊗ Uncertainty about polluted, unhealthy drinking water from pesticides & nitrates
⊗ Uncertainty about the condition of the pipes (corroded pipes)
⊗ contaminated tap water due to inadequate installation or filter systems

The average water consumption per Swiss person is 170 l per day *. This drinking water is used for everyday things like cooking, washing and of course drinking. This drinking water from the tap must be free of pathogenic germs and must not pose a risk to people or technical systems. In the whole of Switzerland (including its large cities such as Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Winterthur, Lucerne, Biel, Lugano, St. Gallen, Aarau) well over 2000 water suppliers supply the population with drinking water.

Even if various problems are repeatedly dealt with in the media, such as pesticides, insufficient protection, hygiene indicators, legionella, nitrate, the general water quality is very high. For this, the water can often be used without major treatments, which is promoted by the different sources. If reprocessing is necessary, chlorine, UV radiation or filtrations, among other things, are sometimes used.

Despite all the challenges that suppliers face in terms of water quality in Switzerland, the most common causes of contaminated or polluted tap water are often in the water pipes of the objects concerned and are therefore not the responsibility of the supplier.