Paris (AFP)

If some French people have stockpiled bottled water for containment or are worried about a taste that is more chlorinated than usual at the tap, professionals are formal: tap water remains completely safe despite the pandemic.

In the early days of containment, packs of mineral or spring water figured prominently in the carts of the French, who rushed to the supermarkets to refuel.

"The Covid period was very favorable (for these products) with a large storage of water bottles", indicates the Nielsen law firm, specialized in consumption.

However, tap water remains safe despite the pandemic. For the World Health Organization (WHO), if the persistence of the virus in water is theoretically "possible", the usual methods of water treatment "should deactivate Covid-19".

Professionals in the sector are even more assertive. "There is no risk of the Covid being present in tap water, it is an absolute certainty", assures Tristan Mathieu, general delegate of the Professional Federation of Water Companies (FP2E).

"There is no risk of contamination of tap water by the virus" and "there is also no risk of contamination by any virus", abounds Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, a global giant in the sector.

"The treatments provided by the drinking water factories eliminate any risk of contamination," he said.

Eau de Paris, which serves three million users in the capital, explains for example that its factories are implementing "several successive treatments to eliminate all viruses, in particular through ozonation, UV disinfection and chlorination ".

Furthermore, professionals stress that the consumption of bottled water encourages plastic pollution but also poses a risk of contamination during the purchase.

Tap water "still avoids going to buy water outside the home and the manipulations that we can have on water bottles," said Tristan Mathieu.

- chlorine taste -

The fact remains that in several regions of France, users are questioning a taste of chlorine more marked than usual or a dryness of the skin after showering or washing hands.

In Strasbourg, the metropolis explains that the Regional Health Agency (ARS) asked it "to slightly increase the chlorination rate, up to 0.3 and 0.5 mg / l at the outlet of the water production station "in order" to conserve good quality microbiological water ".

The difference is only felt "for a few municipalities in the Eurometropolis where chlorination was not applied" so far.

However, this presence of chlorine - a disinfectant that helps maintain quality during distribution - is only indirectly related to the virus: it is essentially linked to a change in flow rates when economic activity slows down.

"If the transit time of tap water increases in the event of very low consumption, it may happen that chlorination is slightly adjusted upwards," explains Tristan Mathieu.

"The confinement of the population at home and the cessation of certain industrial and tertiary activities can have an effect on consumption habits, and therefore on the circulation of water in pipes", also indicates the mayor of Toulouse.

"Larger and more frequent uses in residential areas cause in particular a greater renewal of water in certain pipes, and bring tap water from drinking water production plants which can be more + freshly chlorinated + ", she also underlines.

To eliminate this possible unpleasant taste, several communities recommend letting the water run a little before consuming it and having a carafe of water in advance in the refrigerator. The smell of chlorine disappears after an hour.

© 2020 AFP