At the end of April, José Miguel, a pensioner from Montevideo – Uruguay’s capital – made himself a coffee with tap water. He put it aside after the first sip, calling it undrinkable. "I ran out and bought mineral water, then a filter worth $350 [€320]. It’s an investment," said the resident, who added he was "angry" at the government. Many other Uruguayans have shunned running water for weeks as the country experiences its most serious water supply crisis ever.
"Between 2020 and 2022, the same level of precipitation was recorded as in two normal years, i.e. 2,450 millimeters over three years in Montevideo and the surrounding area," said Raul Viñas, meteorologist and member of the environmental NGO Movimiento por un Uruguay Sustentable ("Movement for a Sustainable Uruguay" – MOVUS). This is the most severe drought the country has ever experienced, due to the combined effect of the natural La Niña episode – which in this part of the world results in reduced rainfall – and climate disruption. Without rain, the springs supplying Montevideo and the surrounding region, home to around 60% of the population of this country of 3.4 million, are at an all-time low.
To avoid running taps dry, the public water company Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE) came up with this solution in April: mix the little remaining reserve with water from the estuary, the Rio de La Plata, which is salty due to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. "We don’t have the infrastructure needed to make salt water drinkable," said Daniel Greif, an engineer who was in charge of water management in the previous left-wing government between 2015 and 2020.
On May 5, OSE officially approved increasing the limit of sodium and chloride in water to 440 milligrams per liter (compared to the original 200 mg/L) and 720 milligrams per liter (compared to 250 mg/L), respectively. The measure was approved by the center-right government led by Luis Lacalle Pou. A glass of Uruguayan tap water now has a pronounced salty taste often described as "disgusting."
While the government assured residents that the water remained safe to drink, the health ministry advised pregnant women as well as people suffering from chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure, heart failure and cirrhosis not to drink tap water.
Two days after the recommendations, in May, the minister for the environment, Robert Bouvier, cryptically said that water "is not potable [but it is] drinkable and consumable." On July 11, the health minister, Karina Rando, invoked the dictionary definition in messages published on the social network X (formerly Twitter): "Drinking water is 'fit for human consumption,' meaning that it does not cause damage to health." On the same day, she said in a parliamentary address that the water distributed remains "safe," and that she drinks the tap water herself. However, according to Edgardo Ortuño, director of OSE, "the water [is] clearly not drinkable" with its current levels of chloride and sodium. Ortuño had voted against changing the sodium and chloride standards.
You have 57.11% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.