In the context of the exceptional water shortage facing Mayotte, the French High Council for Public Health (HCSP) has been asked about the use of disinfectant tablets for water.

The HCSP points out that in an emergency situation, the best guarantee of health protection for the population is to boil the water. As a result, the HCSP recommends that every possible means should be used to help people boil their water, including electric heaters.

The HCSP considers that in a truly critical situation where the population has no means of boiling water and where it would be impossible to provide these means, the semi-collective level is to be favoured with the use of chlorinating agent tablets provided that the water is filtered and managed under local collective conditions, with the control of a minimum of parameters, achievable with simple means, by an authorised and trained person. The disinfectant and dosing equipment must be provided.

The HCSP recommends that the use of disinfectant tablets by private individuals should be limited to situations of absolute crisis, with complete disorganisation preventing any possibility of boiling the water. The authorities should provide the public with the most reliable products, with clear, educational instructions for use, but with no guarantee of potabilisation, since there is no guarantee of the quality of the raw water used or of the correct application of the protocols.

Also read in the opinions and reports :

• Use of water from the bottom of hillside reservoirs in Mayotte to produce water intended for human consumption of 30 October 2023

Read also :

Scientific and technical support note from the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety