Baghdad municipality says water is safe amid contamination concerns

BAGHDAD — Baghdad Municipality said Monday that drinking water in the capital is safe and subject to hourly and daily testing, responding to rising public concern in central Iraq over possible contamination.

Hamed Ghazi al-Darraji, media director at the Baghdad Water Department, told the state-run Al-Sabah newspaper that laboratories test both raw and treated water before distribution. He said sediment is removed first, then chlorine and alum are added “to be free of pollution and fit for human use.” He added the department coordinates with the Ministry of Water Resources during fluctuations in river levels, sometimes halting intake “to protect the pumps from damage until the water level returns to normal.”

Al-Darraji said the department responds to complaints about odors or suspected contamination by sampling water directly from the network and checking chlorine levels. He noted that differences in water quality between neighborhoods are often linked to aging pipes, distance from pumping stations, and power cuts.

The reassurance follows warnings earlier this month from activists and bloggers in Karbala, Najaf, and Babil about bacterial contamination in drinking water. Local directorates later confirmed unusual conditions in the Euphrates, including algae growth and high turbidity, but said staff had been mobilized to manage treatment.

On Sept. 4, the Ministry of Water Resources denied reports of contamination in any governorates, saying laboratory inspections by technical teams from the ministries of Water Resources and Health and Environment showed the supply “is safe for human use.” The ministry rejected circulating claims as “baseless” and pledged continued monitoring to ensure safe water reaches citizens.