Gostivar water supply remains unsafe as officials promise clean drinking water

The municipal water system in Gostivar, North Macedonia, continues to be unsuitable for drinking. Tests by the Institute for Public Health and the Agency for Food and Veterinary Safety repeatedly detect bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, despite ongoing hyper‑chlorination.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has said the city will soon receive water that is “bacteriologically safe” for drinking and cooking, while the health minister has pledged that the supply will be safe by the end of the week. Opposition parties SDSM and VMRO‑DPMNE accuse the government of covering up a two‑year‑long problem that began under a previous health minister, alleging that officials knew the water was unsafe but failed to act.

The crisis has prompted the distribution of tankered water for technical uses only, and a modest decline in reported epidemiological cases, with 84 new patient visits recorded on 2 August, down from the July peak of 649. Authorities continue daily sampling and plan to achieve three consecutive clean laboratory results before declaring the water fit for consumption.