Is Tap Water Safe to Drink in Iraq?

Iraq's water supply depends heavily on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries. Major treatment plants include the Karkh, Rusafa, and Wathba facilities in Baghdad. Basra draws from the Shatt al-Arab waterway, and the Kurdistan Region operates its own network of dams and treatment plants, including the Dukan and Darbandikhan dams.

War damage, looting of treatment equipment, and chronic underinvestment have left many treatment plants operating below capacity. High salinity is a major issue in Basra, where upstream damming by Turkey and Iran has reduced freshwater flow into the Shatt al-Arab, allowing seawater intrusion. Bacterial contamination from damaged distribution networks is a widespread concern.

The Kurdistan Region (Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok) has invested more heavily in water infrastructure and has somewhat more reliable supply than central and southern Iraq. Baghdad's treatment plants function but distribution is inconsistent. Basra has experienced acute water crises due to extreme salinity. Rural areas across the country have the least reliable access.

Hard to very hard, typically 300–500 mg/L in central Iraq; Basra water can exceed 1,000 mg/L during high-salinity episodes due to seawater intrusion..

Most Iraqi households use bottled water, reverse-osmosis home units, or water delivered by private tanker trucks rather than drinking municipal tap water directly.

• •Drink only bottled or filtered water throughout Iraq
• •Carry your own water supply when traveling between cities
• •In the Kurdistan Region, hotel tap water is generally treated but bottled water remains the safer choice
• •Avoid ice unless you are confident it was made from purified water

• •Use only bottled or filtered water for drinking and brushing teeth
• •Carry sufficient bottled water when traveling outside major cities
• •Avoid tap water entirely in Basra during salinity crisis periods