Description
The French Ministry of Health publishes the results of the official checks on tap water for every commune, free online, so anyone can see what is in their water before paying for bottles.
Tap water in France is checked by the regional health agencies (ARS), independently of the water supplier. The results, by commune and by water network, show whether the water met the limits for bacteria, nitrates, pesticides and their breakdown products at the last sample. A yearly summary of the same results is sent with the water bill. The ministry also publishes national reports, the latest on pesticides covering 2024, released in December 2025.
The checks show where tap water falls short. According to UFC-Que Choisir, most water meets the limits except for pesticides, whose detections rose sharply in the northern half of France, partly because more breakdown products are now tested. ANSES found a breakdown product of the fungicide chlorothalonil above the quality limit in more than a third of samples. UFC-Que Choisir puts tap water at €0.003 a litre on average, against €0.20 for spring water and €0.40 for mineral water, 60 to 130 times more.
Strengths
- The results come from public health agencies, not from the water company or a filter seller.
- Each commune can look up its own network and the date of the last sample.
- Drinking tap water costs about two euros a year per person and needs no bottle or lorry.
Weaknesses
- The pesticide results depend on which breakdown products each ARS tests, so two communes are not always compared on the same list.
- Dozens of pesticide breakdown products are still not tested, according to a 2025 question in parliament.
- Results show conformity at the last samples, which in small rural networks can be months apart.
Who it is for
Households in France who buy bottled water out of doubt about the tap, and want to check their commune’s results before deciding, or before buying a filter.
Sources
- Ministère de la Santé: Qualité de l’eau potable (blocked automated access, November 2026)
- UFC-Que Choisir Clermont-Ferrand: Réactualisation de la carte interactive de l’eau (2025, PDF)
- Actu-Environnement: Bilan de la qualité de l’eau au robinet vis-à-vis des pesticides, données 2024 (PDF)
- Réussir: Résidus de pesticides dans l’eau potable, que dit le rapport de l’Anses
- Assemblée nationale: question écrite n° 5708 (2025, PDF)