Each summer, high temperatures and frequent water cuts rekindle controversies around the country’s water shortage, water stress, to which are added the problems of the bad taste of tap water. Although the government certifies that cities are supplied with drinking water, residents avoid drinking the water that reaches their homes.
With our correspondent in Tunis, Lilia Blaise
At the end of July, the publication of a preliminary report by the UN special rapporteur on the human rights to drinking water and sanitation pointed to the lack of access to drinking water in ‘a large part of the population. The Ministry of Agriculture responded by stating that the data was wrong and that the drinking water supply rate reached 100% in urban areas. But in the districts of the capital, many inhabitants admit not drinking tap water for a long time.
In Aouina, a district near Tunis airport, Moustapha, a 49-year-old Moroccan living in Tunisia, prepares morning coffees while his customers play cards. The coffee water has been filtered in a machine for years and he himself says he no longer drinks tap water.
” Look, taste, its taste is not normal. No one drinks tap water in the cafe, we offer direct bottled water, not carafes. In recent years, the quality has changed a lot, sometimes I turn on the tap and it has a yellow color or it tastes like sand. »
In the street, Souad, a mother who does her shopping, admits to buying water packs because she considers that the water that comes to her house is not drinkable. ” When I drink tap water I get bloated and I don’t feel well and the water is never clear. When you let it run, you find a lot of limestone. »
According to the UN special rapporteur on a visit to Tunisia in July, a plan to renovate the drinking water supply networks would be necessary, especially in rural areas which are increasingly suffering from water cuts. contaminated water and supplies.