Czechia: water from the Odolena Voda reservoir is drinkable again — after lead contamination, restrictions covered 12 municipalities of the Central Bohemian Region, and the operator plans to determine lead in all samples in this part of the system, 58 times a year
On 2 October 2026 the Regional Public Health Authority of the Central Bohemian Region (KHS) announced that repeated analyses by the operator, Středočeské vodárny, had confirmed the safety of the water in all localities supplied from the Odolena Voda reservoir; on that day the water in the entire supply system was declared drinkable again. Since 24 September it could not be used for drinking or preparing food because of lead concentrations above the limit.
- The restrictions covered 12 municipalities: Hoštice, Klíčany, Postřižín, Větrušice, Husinec, Máslovice, Řež, Vodochody, Klecany, Odolena Voda, Sedlec and Zdiby. According to the operator’s analyses, the contamination had lasted from 23 September at the earliest; concentrations above the limit were found on 24 September in intensive monitoring launched after several compliant but non-zero lead results in the network. The water could still be used for hygiene and sanitary purposes; substitute supply from water tankers was directed primarily to schools, nurseries and healthcare facilities.
- Monitoring took place daily, including weekends and the public holiday, at more than 25 points of the group water supply system, first at the reservoirs; from 29 September the distribution network was also checked. As late as 28 September a concentration above the limit was measured at the Máslovice reservoir, which is supplied from the Odolena Voda reservoir, and in a sample of 29 September in Postřižín, Datlová Street. According to the operator, five complete analyses a year had been carried out in this part of the system (Mělnická Vrutice) in line with legislation; lead is now to be determined in all samples reported to the system, i.e. 58 times a year.
- The operator names seepage from an illegal landfill dating from the 1960s to the 1990s as one possible source of contamination; it has filed a criminal complaint against an unknown perpetrator, and the cause is being investigated by the police together with the Czech Environmental Inspectorate and the water authority in Mělník. The operator is using uncontaminated and less contaminated boreholes; full renewal and remediation of the wellfield is to be a long-term task.
- The operator’s crisis team based the decision on a series of compliant laboratory analyses of samples taken in recent days at dozens of points in the distribution network. Where part of a household installation has not been used, water must be run for 5–10 minutes before drinking and cooking. Monitoring continues, and where even a low lead concentration is detected the network is still flushed — the operator states a goal of zero concentrations; KHS independently supervises the water quality.