Once water is extracted from the rivers, it is transported to silting chambers at the ETAP, where stones and sand are separated out. The plant can treat water at a speed of 5.3 cubic meters per second, producing 450 thousand cubic meters of water a day. It has one of the most complex and advanced water treatment plants in Europe the ETAP ( estación de tratamiento de agua potable) in Sant Joan Despí was built in 1955, when the demand for water in Barcelona started to rise. Aigües de Barcelona is responsible for treating the water and supplying it to the city, as well as 23 other municipalities. Some water is also sourced from the Ter and Besòs rivers. The river water contains high levels of minerals, including potassium, magnesium and various carbonates, because it crosses an extremely salty region around the municipality of Súria, 75 kilometers north-west of Barcelona.
The majority of Barcelona’s tap water comes from the Llobregat river, which originates in the Serra del Cadí and flows into the sea just south of the city. According to the Ministerio de Sanidad (the governmental agency that monitors tap water across the whole country) and Aigües de Barcelona (the private water management group that controls the city’s water), it meets all international standards, including those specified by the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO). That said, experts across the board assert that it’s safe to drink. Many people living in the city choose bottled water over tap water because they think it tastes better and is, therefore, better for them.
But how healthy and safe is the water flowing from our taps in Barcelona? Apart from drinking it to survive, we use it to bathe, cook, do the dishes, wash our clothes, grow food and more.
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