When entering the village of Karakert,in Armenia’s Armavir Province,aluminum canisters are visible in front of every home.

Each morning a water truck from Talin delivers drinking water to the village. People fill up the canisters with the water they buy from the truck.

Although there’s a main water supply in the village, most residents don’t use it. The water supply of Karakert and 12 other communities (including Armavir, Metzamorand 10 villages) is operated by “Nor Akunq” CJSC.

Nevertheless, most people prefer to purchase their water, as residents claim that the water being piped into the village is not suitable for drinking because it is salty, tastes poorly and causes health problems.

This year the price of water has increased 50 dram, with 40 liters now costing 250 dram (or 6.25 dram per liter), up from 200 dram previously.

The official rate for one cubic meter of water is 179.78 dram, or 0.18 per liter. For Karakert residents, that works out to 6,250 dram per cubic meter - 35 times higher than the price of water from the main supply.

One resident named Haykasar stated that he pays 7,500 dram per month for drinking water.

Deputy Director of “Nor Akunq” Artavazd Torosyan spoke to Hetq and stated that there has never been a problem since water quality is checked several times per month.

“Who are we to supply a community with water without quality control measures in place?” Torosyan said.“I’m not a cigarette vendor who would take risks by doing something like that. Giving a community water without performing quality control is like committing suicide.”

Torosyan says that residents began complaining about the water quality after “Nor Akunq” took control of the water supply. Although the quality issue has been ongoing for some time,compelling residents to purchase water, Torosyan claims that it’s all the same as the water is supplied from the identical source.

“Everyone wants to drink water from the Aparan supply, but no one bothers to ask whether that’s possible or not, and what are the requirements for making that happen,” Torosyan said.