EYATH: Thessaloniki water ‘is perfectly safe’

The water in Thessaloniki is “perfectly safe” and has not been affected by an instance of oil contamination detected last January, the city’s Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYATH) said on Thursday in response to a newspaper report on an ongoing judicial investigation into the incident.

“The water that reaches the taps of the residents of Thessaloniki is perfectly safe,” the company said.

“At no time, let alone during the appearance of hydrocarbons in early January in the water of the Aliakmonas River, was water supplied that did not fully meet the relevant provisions of Greek and European legislation,” it added.

In January, the company spotted oil drops on the surface of the water in a tank at EYATH’s water treatment plant at Sindos.

The Ethnos newspaper said the prosecutor’s report showed the contamination probably came from an oil pipe which crosses the bottom of Lake Polyfytos.

The lake forms part of the course of the Aliakmonas River, which supplies 60 percent of Thessaloniki’s water.

The company said it had installed filters, reduced the water supply from the Aliakmonas and increased the supply from Aravissos springs to tackle to the problem.