“It is enough to turn on the tap to notice an unfamiliar smell, taste, and color in the water, which has now become part of our daily lives,” says Reem Abbas, a resident of Sahnaya south of Damascus, in an interview with +963. Her children had begun suffering from repeated bouts of diarrhea and unexplained stomach pain before she realized that the water itself was the source of worry and illness.
Pointing to the visible sediment inside a bottle, she adds that she never imagined the water she consumes daily could look this way, which forced her to stop using it altogether for drinking and cooking at home.
Drinking water in Damascus is no longer one of the daily basics residents can rely on during the past two years, after public trust in the water delivered through the main network collapsed. It has instead become a constant source of concern that compels families to find alternative solutions no matter the cost, due to widespread infrastructure deterioration and recurring contamination across the capital. This places residents under mounting financial and health pressure, with no clear horizon for addressing the root of the problem.
Despite the significant costs, Reem is compelled to take precautionary measures to protect her family, explaining that tap water is no longer drinkable. She now uses it only for washing and cleaning, while relying on privately sourced drinking water, highlighting the financial and health burden this crisis imposes on her family, which must now shoulder additional expenses for filtration or purchased water.
Reem attempts to convey the collective suffering of the neighborhood, explaining that the situation has become part of daily life. Not a single day passes without residents worrying about the quality of their water. Families struggle to secure safe drinking water, and the fear of illness has become constant, especially among households with young children and the elderly.
She stresses that securing clean and safe drinking water is not a luxury but an urgent need that directly affects the health of children and older adults. She emphasizes the need for immediate intervention by the relevant authorities and the adoption of tangible solutions that ensure clean and safe water without forcing residents into daily dependence on filtration systems and purchased water.
Water Loss
Water infrastructure in Damascus is severely deteriorated, with parts of the network dating back more than fifty years. Leakage has reached unprecedented levels. Former employees of the water authority, who requested anonymity, confirm that water loss has exceeded seven percent, a high figure that reflects the scale of cracks and potential mixing with sewage networks.
In Qudsaya west of Damascus, Ali al-Alwan, a resident of the city, expresses his daily struggle with tap water, explaining that “there is no single day when water comes with consistent quality. Sometimes it is relatively clean, and other times it seems mixed with soil.”
He tells +963 that the old network is the primary cause, as the lines are extremely outdated. Every repair involves digging and refilling without any meaningful replacement of the pipes.
Al-Alwan adds that these fluctuations in water quality have affected not only daily life but have also become a constant concern for public health in the neighborhood. He notes that every household must filter water before using it, especially households with elderly family members who are more vulnerable to illness caused by contaminated water.
He explains that the repair attempts by the authorities are often temporary and ineffective, as they do not involve real infrastructure replacement. As a result, residents must constantly inspect and monitor the water before drinking or cooking.
He recalls that water used to arrive clean and stable, without any need for filters or purchased water. Today, the situation is entirely different, and everything has become an additional financial burden for families. He stresses that the solution does not lie in temporary fixes but in complete replacement of the network and continuous monitoring of water quality, urging authorities to carry out their responsibilities toward residents.
Damascus residents complain of declining water quality due to electricity cuts and fluctuating pressure caused by pumping stations operating on old generators, which stir up sediments and increase contamination. Many have resorted to household filters as an alternative solution, but their cost, ranging between two and four million Syrian pounds, around three hundred thirty five dollars, in addition to one hundred to one hundred fifty thousand pounds per cartridge every two to three weeks, makes them unaffordable for most families.
In Jaramana, Adnan al-Salihni, a government employee, says his salary of no more than eight hundred thousand pounds barely covers bread and some vegetables. “How could I set aside money for filters?” he asks.
He tells +963 that filters have become an unavoidable burden because the water is no longer drinkable at all. He points to a striking paradox: “They say the water is safe to drink, yet the filter turns black within a week. How can that be explained?”
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Absent Oversight
For those unable to install filters, purchasing bottled water from private stations is the only available option. Yet this is not always safe, as many stations operate with worn out equipment, and some do not replace filters unless they fail completely.
There is also no effective oversight of the quality of water sold by these stations, despite their becoming a primary source for thousands of households.
Samar Younes Al Ali, twenty nine, a resident of Muadamiyat al-Sham, tells +963 that she buys fifteen liters for about ten thousand pounds. Her family needs ten containers a week, meaning she pays roughly one hundred fifty thousand pounds per month for water alone, an amount equivalent to a third of the family’s income.
She adds that these stations are not entirely safe, but they are the best available option. She often notices a strange taste in the bottled water despite buying from a nearby and well known station. The owner claims that the filters need replacement but that he cannot afford the cost.
An employee at Rif Dimashq Water Authority, who preferred not to be named, tells +963 that “inspection rounds do occur, but they cannot cover all towns and districts in the governorate due to a shortage of staff. Some neighborhoods are not inspected unless a collective complaint is filed.”
He adds that the usual response to complaints is increasing chlorine levels, but this is not a solution, only a temporary measure that heightens odors without addressing true contamination.
Dr Samer Abdulaziz, a specialist in kidney and gastrointestinal diseases, tells +963 that contaminated drinking water in Damascus now poses a double threat to public health, and that children and the elderly are the most at risk.
He explains that continuous exposure to unsafe water leads to gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea and food poisoning, and at the same time may affect kidney function, causing stones and chronic infections in the urinary tract.
He warns that chemical and bacterial pollutants and heavy metals in the water increase the risk of chronic diseases. They cause repeated diarrhea and nutrient loss among children and place strain on the kidneys over time, especially among patients with diabetes or high blood pressure, potentially leading to gastrointestinal complications and early kidney failure. He emphasizes that modernizing the water network and monitoring its quality are urgent necessities to safeguard digestive and urinary health and to protect the community, especially children and older adults.
