Paphos governor says district’s water is ‘top quality’ after smell complaints

Paphos district governor Charalambos Pittokopitis on Friday insisted that the drinking water available in his district is “top quality” after some local residents complained about its smell.

“Immediately after the complaints were committed, the district government proceeded with thorough inspections of both the water tanks and the water network” in the areas where complaints were made, he told the Cyprus News Agency.

He added that those inspections “did not reveal any problems”, and that the water “was deemed to be top quality and absolutely suitable for consumption”.

The complaints, he said, were “isolated incidences” which were “nonetheless treated with seriousness” by the district government.

“Checks were carried out on both the water tanks and on the points of the network which are supplied by them and nothing concerning was found,” he said, adding that those analyses “did not show any alteration in either the odour, colour, or chemical and microbiological composition of the water”.

He then said that the district government will “continue to closely monitor the situation” so as to “ensure the quality of drinking water on a permanent basis and to immediately address any issue which may arise”.

“The health and safety of residents is an absolute priority for the Paphos district government,” he said.

Bad smells emanating from the Paphos district’s water supply have been something of a recurring theme in recent years, with the Ierokipia municipality having complained in 2024 of a “large volume of sewage” flowing into the sea from the district’s water treatment plant, which is located near the village of Acheleia.

Previously, a build-up of dried sludge at the plant caused a smell so bad that a delegation from the House energy committee went there in person to investigate.

Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos explained at the time that the sludge is typically transported to a private company and then onwards to Vasiliko, where it is incinerated, and that the smell came about because “for some reason, the manager of the unit had stored it for a few days because he had some problems with the transport contractor”.

He said that as a result, “there was a strong stench, which reached as far as Paphos airport, Acheleia, and Yeroskipou.”

At the time, he explained that the existence of sludge is a normal byproduct of the plant’s operations and that the plant itself was not being operated “poorly”.

The water, he said, is analysed weekly and “falls within the required standards and specifications.”

He added that the plant’s contractor swiftly took action to remove the sludge and that afterwards, the problem of the smell was resolved.