The situation is historic and should last for some time: there is no longer any drinking water in several towns in France.
This is a particularly worrying historical “first”. Opening your tap and consuming the water that flows from it is prohibited in four French municipalities. Just over 3,000 inhabitants of the Pyrénées-Orientales have been notified that the water in their homes will no longer be drinkable, for an indefinite period, a direct consequence of the episode of winter drought that has hit the department.
More drinking water in four municipalities
In this sector, which has already been placed on heightened alert, water resources are becoming scarce. “The level of drinking water drilling on Bouleternère has reached its sampling threshold”, explained the town hall of Corbère-les-Cabanes, hit by the ban, in a press release published on social networks. But the Intermunicipal Syndicate for Drinking Water Supply (SIAEP) is not going to leave the inhabitants without water. In front of the level of the borehole on which the dwellings are usually connected, the decision was made to connect them to another borehole. However, at this stage, the water from this new source is not drinkable according to the analyses, hence the decision taken by the Regional Health Agency, the only one authorized to lift the ban.
Bouleternère, Saint-Michel-de-Llotes, Corbère-les-Cabanes and Corbère are concerned, from this Friday, April 14, 2023. All these municipalities are located 30km west of Perpignan. No time frame for returning to normal has been indicated, but the situation could last at least two weeks, according to Jean-Pierre Saurie, president of SIAEP, quoted by The Independent.
Water distribution
If it will therefore no longer be possible to drink water coming directly from the tap, it is also advisable not to use it for cleaning and preparing food that will be eaten raw, but also for cleaning your mouth after drinking. to have their teeth brushed. A situation never known before in these villages, as declared by the mayor of Corbère to News Perpignan.
To overcome this ban, two semi-trailers of water packs have been ordered by the municipalities and distributions will take place, at the rate of one pack of six 1.5L bottles per week and per person. At the same time, the SIAEP is working on the creation of a new borehole. An emergency solution to a situation much earlier than expected. And to think that summer is not here yet…