The deputy of the Broad Front, Felipe Carballo, raised his concern about the change in the regulations regarding the amount of chloride in the water that OSE supplies to households for consumption, announced Wednesday by the authorities. The president of OSE, Raúl Montero, had informed that the salinity limit in the water would go from 250 milligrams per liter to 450, which in his opinion “does not mean that it is harmful to health”, but that “It has to do with the palate, with the sensory than with the pathological”.
“In order to make this definition, were the recommendations of the World Health Organization in relation to the maximum allowed values of chloride in drinking water taken into account?”, consulted the frontista deputy in a request for reports to which he agreed The Observeraddressed to OSE and the Ministry of Environment.
“The UNIT 833 of 2008 standard is clear in defining 250mg/l as the maximum recommended value: was this standard taken into consideration when raising the possible amount of chloride in water for domestic use?” he asked, and also demanded to know what positions had been expressed by the Regulatory Unit of Energy and Water Services (Ursea) and the Ministry of Environment.
“Is it the power of the entity (OSE) to make a decision of this type that contravenes international recommendations?“, Carballo inquired. “Is there sufficient evidence to ensure that this increase in salinity does not affect health in periods of consumption and amounts that are perpetuated over time?”, he added.
“What is the position and recommendation of the MSP in this regard? Was this decision consulted with the aforementioned ministry?” the opposition legislator wrote in his request for information.
“Have investment in infrastructures that allow for the renewal of the pipe network been considered as a measure prior to the water emergency that we have been facing for several months, in order to reduce the percentage of water losses that OSE has, (approximately 50% of the potable water actually produced is lost and about 28% is lost due to the age of the pipes)?”, he closed.
Finally, Carballo asked the departments if “the categorization of the quality of the water supplied by OSE changes” as a result of the modifications to the parameters.
