Tap water in Tbilisi-safe or not?

After it became known that existing sewage pipelines into the River Vere (location of the June 13 tragedy) had been damaged by the flood, people in Tbilisi started to ask for information about the safety of their tap water.

Georgian Water and Power (GWP) confirmed that the local tap water is safe and reassured people that there is no reason to panic. GWP once again reminded people that Tbilisi is supplied with drinking water from the Aragvi Gorge; water provided for Tbilisi citizens is not connected to the River Vere in any way. GWP also confirmed that a wastewater discharge in the Vere river had been agreed to by both local and central government.

“The tap water is absolutely clean- you are not getting water from the River Vere,” said Omar Gotsiridze, Technical Director of GWP.

GWP is carrying out double chlorination of water for prophylactic purposes. GWP also announced on their website that they are going to build a temporary mini-purification device, through which sewage entering the Vere river will be eliminated.

Later, the question was raised as to whether or not the central government and Tbilisi City Hall were informed about the polluted water, considering the fact that hundreds of volunteers are working in this area. As it turned out, neither the volunteers nor the ministers knew about this fact.

According to GWP, sewage discharge does not occur in the vicinity where the volunteers were working.

Officials say that once the cleanup efforts are completed, the original sewage collector will be fully restored. Reconstruction of the damaged roads and sewage system will take 30 days.

Nino Melikishvili