Water used for drinking in Moldova is responsible for up to 15-20% of cases of acute diarrheal diseases and viral hepatitis A, mainly in rural areas, and 100% of dental fluorosis cases, says the Ministry of Health.

Moldova sees 16-20 thousand cases of acute diarrheal diseases annually, which are responsible for up to 10 deaths among children under the age of 5. Nitrate contamination of drinking water caused 34 instances of acute poisoning between 2017 and 2021, of which 3 cases resulted in death among children.

As of 2021, the percentage of non-compliant water in urban supply systems relying on surface sources was 8.6%, or 6.3% for microbiological standards. At the same time, 90% of the tested artesian wells were found to contain substandard water.

The Ministry of Health says the process of supervising and monitoring drinking water quality must be revised in order to achieve a high level of protection of the population’s health.