Skopje, 14 October 2024 (MIA) — Gostivar's residential water is safe to drink, the Food and Veterinary Agency said in a press release lifting the drinking water ban after its labs found manganese levels in the city's tap water within the FVA water safety guidance levels.

According to the FVA release, the initial water samples were taken by Skopje Public Health Institute inspectors on Oct. 5, following reports of manganese contamination.

Inspectors took samples from three Gostivar locations, and the results showed that "the drinking water physically, chemically and bacteriologically meets the prescribed safety and quality criteria."

In addition, the FVA said, the Gostivar Center of Public Health took ten samples for testing the Gostivar tap water, on Oct. 5, 8 and 9. 

The results showed manganese levels "within normal values," the FVA noted and said it was lifting the ban on drinking Gostivar's tap water.

Last week, Gostivar Mayor Valbon Limani told MIA's correspondent that a private lab outsourced by the local public water utility company was conducting tests for the utility, and it had found unsafe levels of manganese in the tap water.

However, samples taken the same day by the Gostivar Center for Public Health showed, according to Limani, that the water was safe to drink.

"The private company's results show [manganese] above the allowable exposure limit, and the Center for Public Health results are below the allowable minimum," the Gostivar mayor said. 

Limani said he would ask the local water utility to "stop the collaboration" with the lab that did the water testing for them. He also said accountability measures would be taken "against those who contributed to the water ban situation."

According to MIA's Gostivar correspondent, this was the second tap water ban for Gostivar residents in the past two weeks. The previous drinking water ban was over the presence of fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria in the local water system. mr/