President Çetinkaya’s statement on “lime water”

Karabük Mayor Özkan Çetinkaya made a statement regarding the hard drinking water flowing from the networks in the city center. He expressed that there has been a serious drought recently faced both by the country and Karabük, and that the temperatures and insufficient rainfall exceeding seasonal norms, just like in the rest of the world, have put great pressure on water resources. “Karasu Spring is struggling to meet our city’s drinking water needs. Therefore, we must take some measures together and manage the situation in the best way possible. We have prepared urgent action plans to strengthen our water resources and will implement them shortly. You can also contribute to this process by using our water sparingly. Our drinking water treatment facility, due to its technological structure, causes a loss of about 700 cubic meters of water per hour. The decrease in our water resources due to drought and the increase in water consumption have rendered our facility inadequate. Considering these conditions, we have decided to temporarily shut down our Drinking Water Treatment Facility to ensure uninterrupted water supply. Currently, our network is directly fed from the Karasu Spring. This has emerged as the most effective solution in the short term,” he said.

“Similar situations have occurred in the past”

Çetinkaya stated, “This situation was also experienced in a similar way a few years ago”: “In 2019 and 2020, due to drought, the Drinking Water Treatment Facility was not operational for a total of 169 days. During that period, our network was also fed directly from the Karasu Spring, and our citizens had to use hard water for a while, which is commonly known as ‘hard water’ due to its high mineral content. However, there is no reason for our citizens to be concerned. Hard water has no known negative effects on human health. There are unfounded claims on some social media accounts and news sites aimed at unsettling the public and creating hostility against our municipality. These claims suggest that the water supplied to our network contains lead and other heavy metals, and this has been expressed in a way that incites hatred and hostility towards our municipality, and necessary legal proceedings have been initiated against these individuals.”

Çetinkaya emphasized that the municipality meticulously controls the quality standards of the water supplied to the network and that regular analyses are conducted in cooperation with the Provincial Health Directorate. “As a result of these analyses, it has been repeatedly proven that our water does not contain any elements that could harm human health and complies with the Regulation on Human Consumption Water. The analysis results are transparently shared on our municipality’s website. We kindly ask you not to trust such news that misleads our public with unfounded claims and to follow our municipality’s official statements. The entire process is conducted transparently and the public is informed with accurate information. As a result, we are taking all necessary precautions to ensure the continuity of water supply. Once our water resources reach sufficient levels, we will reactivate our treatment facility. I would like to thank the people of Karabük for their understanding and patience during this challenging process, and I want to share my belief that we will overcome this period together in the best way possible.”