"Croatian Water" - is it drinkable?

You won't catch Croats shopping for drinking water! Why not? Because they enjoy drinking the delicious tap water! Croatia actually has excellent water quality. How this is possible and whether you can drink tap water during your vacation in Croatia, you can read in this blog!

The UNESCO research from 2014 shows that Croatia has one of the largest water reserves in the EU. In fact, with its abundant water resources, Croatia ranks 5th in Europe and 42nd in the world.

These facts may surprise you, but once you consider how many water sources there are in Croatia, it becomes immediately clear why Croatia is one of the largest water resources in Europe. Drinking water in Croatia springs from the deepest rocks. You will now get to know the water sources in Croatia, to which Croatia owes its high-quality drinking water.

Where does the good water quality in Croatia come from?

The excellent water quality in Croatia comes from the many deep-water springs that are available in Croatia. Among others, the springs are: Janino Vrelo, Kala in Atapovec, Sveta Jana, Sveti Rok and some springs in the Lipik area. The Croats and the Croatian water brands owe the outstanding drinking water quality to these springs. Further on in the blog, we will also inform you about the good tap water in the cities of Croatia and show which sources Croatians owe their luxury of being able to drink water from the tap.

But now first to the well-known drinking water sources of the popular Croatian water brands.

Water Spring Janino Vrelo

The Janino Vrelo spring is located in Pisarovina. This is a 500-meter-deep spring from which its water draws the famous Croatian water brand "Jamnica". Jamnica is a carbonated, natural mineral water. The Croatian water brand Jamnica has been bottling its water here since 1828. This long tradition began when Jamnica was included in the list of mineral waters of the Viennese court. Pumping water from the Janino Vrelo spring protects the water from pollution. This mineral water is particularly recommended during meals, as it contributes to the natural and healthy digestion.

Water Spring Kala in Atapovec

The Atlantic Group, carrier of the Kala water brand, draws its water from the Kala water source near Apatovec. The natural non-carbonated mineral water is known for its great cleanliness and quality. You will find Kala water in almost all Croatian supermarkets.

Water Spring Sveta Jana in Gorica Svetojanska

Now to the winner of Croatian water springs. Croatian water brand Jana bottles their natural mineral water from the Sveta Jana spring in Gorica Svetojanska. This water comes from a depth of 800 meters. Thanks to the incredible depth of this spring and the mineral components of the soil layers, which the water has to penetrate here, the water of Jana has excellent purity. Furthermore, the water Jana is rich in minerals and recognizable by an excellent taste. Why are we talking about the winner of Croatian water springs? Well, because Jana water is a gold medal winner!

Fun fact! Did you know that the Jana water was awarded the best water in the world in 2019?

In 2019, Jana water was awarded the gold medal for the best water in the world at the Monde Selection quality competition in Rome. The Monde Selection jury judges according to the categories of taste, smell, appearance and mineral composition, but the Monde Selection also considers the categories of consumer information, innovation, design and the credibility of advertising claims. The Monde Selection competition has been held since 1961.

Water Spring Sveti Rok

Spring water from Sveti Rok spring, which comes from Velebit mountains, is extremely healthy and natural water. Sveti Rok water brand company distributes its water in gallons and also sells water machines.

In the Area of Lipik: Water Springs Grofova Vrela, Ivanovo and Antunovo Vrelo, Studena

There are several water springs in the Lipik area. The well-known Croatian water brand Studena draws its water from here and especially from the spring Studena. Studena springs are located in the Pakraè hills of Lipik. The water is thought to be thousands of years old. The Croatian Institute Ruðer Boškoviæ comes to an approximate age of 7600 years in its investigations.

The carbonated mineral water Lipički Studenac also draws its water from a depth of 380 meters from the water springs Grofova Vrela and Antunovo Vrelo. This mineral water has been pumped here since 1875. The water is excellent and very suitable for mixing with wine.

Now that we have acquainted you with the best brands of Croatian drinking water we move onto the good and high-quality tap water!

Can you drink Tap Water in Croatia?

If Croatia has such good drinking water, then one can assume that tap water is also good. It is exactly like that! As already announced, the Croatians really enjoy the luxury of being able to drink tap water. Now let's take a look at where tap water in Croatia is particularly good and where it comes from.

Tap water quality in Croatia is excellent. The water analyses of the Croatian public waterworks show that the samples are almost all healthy and edible. The hardness of the water is not the same everywhere, for example the water in Istria and Dalmatia is much softer than in the Zagreb region. This also means that tap water does not taste the same everywhere. In some regions of Croatia tap water is more drinkable than in others, but it is estimated that almost 90% of the country can enjoy tap water.

Tap water is particularly good to enjoy in the Zadar and Split regions. Let's take a closer look!

Tap Water in the Zadar Region

The city of Zadar and the surrounding area draws most of its tap water from the Zrmanja river. Here the water flows from the Velebit springs Èalinovac, Dorinovac and Sekuliæa Vrelo. This water is collected and sent to the Dolac pumping station with a closed collector. This water is of excellent quality, yet it is disinfected during pumping out.

Tap Water in the Split Region

Split and surroundings, as well as mostly Makarska, get their tap water from the Jadro river and the Cetina River. The water, which is already of good quality, is also disinfected here when it is pumped out.

If you are in these regions of Croatia, you can most likely assume that you can freely drink the tap water. It is still recommended to additionally filter the water, but more on that later. Now that we know that tap water is also disinfected during the pumping process, let's see how this works and how the water gets to our pipes!

How does the water get from the springs to our pipes?

You are probably wondering why this is an important point to mention. Since the water from Croatian water sources is so clean, it could just be piped straight into our homes, right? This is not entirely true, because even if the water from the water sources is clean and of good quality, it still has to go through a certain disinfection process.

The water springs from deep rocks and thus also attracts some microorganisms that are not edible for us. Further "contamination" of the tap water can be caused by dirty pipes. The following impurities must be removed from tap water so that it is actually drinkable. As mentioned above, microorganisms and plankton can cause the water to become cloudy. Furthermore, colloidal solutions are cleaned and also molecular solutions, as well as ionic solutions.

There are various processes here, such as mechanical separation without the addition of reagents. However, in order not to go to deep into these processes here, it can be said in summary that the water is mainly cleaned with chlorine. Sometimes this causes a strong chlorine smell in the water.

In summary, the tap water in Croatia is filtered by the local water authorities, which are subject to EU regulations. It should also be emphasized that the water is tested daily.

... and what about the Islands?

But what about the water supply on the islands in Croatia? This is an important question as the Croatian islands are a very popular holiday destination and are visited by more and more tourists from all over the world every year.

Most of the Croatian islands are connected to the water supply of the mainland. This is possible because some of the islands are very close to the mainland. Furthermore, some islands also use their own water sources, such as cisterns and wells. Of course, there are also islands, which in turn use both options.

In addition, the water supply on some islands is regulated by transporting the water to the islands from the mainland. For example, in the Zadar region, the ship called "Zrmanja" supplies the surrounding islands with drinking water. In case you haven't noticed, the ship's name carries a meaning. Namely, this ship was named after the river Zrmanja, which is also the most important source of water in the Zadar region.

Tips on how to achieve even better Water Quality

So, we have now recognized that tap water can be drunk without worries in large parts of Croatia. This means that you can drink tap water in most accommodations during your stay in Croatia. Nevertheless, in some cases we recommend filtering the tap water additionally. When is this necessary? If you find out that the water pipes are very old, filter the water additionally. We advise this because sometimes pollutants get into the water in these old water pipes. Now let's see what options are suitable for filtration.

For water filtration, the water filter can be attached to the main water connection or to the tap. The best water filtering option is the reverse osmosis filter, which develops a special membrane. This really cleans the water of all possible pollutants. But there are also simpler methods of filtering, such as the filtering cup. Here a kind of lid is attached to the cup, which filters the water.

Now we have come to the end of our blog about Croatian water. As you have read, our blog confirms that Croatia is one of the countries with the largest reserves of drinking water. In fact, Croatia has water of excellent quality. So, Croats can enjoy the tap water carefree, but can also buy bottled drinking water of great quality from the supermarkets.

Of course, Croatia is not only a popular destination for many tourists because of the delicious water. Every year Croatia attracts more and more tourists with its magnificent nature and unique coast. If you would like to travel to Croatia and are still looking for ideal accommodation in Croatia, then you have come to the right place! Feel free to browse our diverse offer of villas with private pools along the Croatian coast.

For all your questions, we are at your disposal!

Thank you for reading!