By Linus Palmqvist, Head of Operations Reviewed by Simon Nilsson· Last reviewed
Yes. It is treated to national standards and the water company is half owned by the city council. What catches people out here is something else entirely: plenty of homes on this coast have no water contract of their own, because the bill goes to the urbanisation instead.
Safe to drink, and worth knowing where yours comes from
Alicante's mains water is treated to Spain's national drinking water standards and monitored by the water company, the regional health authority and the national database. Drinking it from the tap is normal, though this is a coast where a lot of people buy bottled water out of habit and taste preference rather than because of anything on a test result.
The Costa Blanca is full of urbanisations and developments where the water arrangement sits between you and the municipal company. That changes who you deal with, what you can see, and what happens when something leaks. It is the first thing to check here, ahead of anything about taste.
Check your supply zone
There is no reliable current hardness figure published for Alicante as a whole, and we are not going to invent one. What you can do is look up the actual results for the network serving your address.
The national database shows whether your zone is currently classified as suitable for consumption, when it was last sampled, and any parameter outside the permitted range. Your last bill names your supply zone if you are not sure.
2
Check the water company's quality pages
Aguas de Alicante publishes information about how it controls water quality, and its site has an English version. It does not publish a street-level hardness lookup of the kind some other Spanish cities offer.
3
Then find out how your property is actually supplied
On this coast that matters more than the municipal average. If you are in an urbanisation, ask whether the property has its own meter and contract or whether water comes through the community.
Who supplies water in Alicante
It serves the city of Alicante. Neighbouring Costa Blanca towns have their own arrangements: Torrevieja is served by AGAMED and Benidorm by Hidraqua, both under their own municipal contracts. As everywhere in Spain, you do not choose your water company and you cannot switch away from it.
Aguas de Alicante
Aguas de Alicante
A mixed company, owned half by Alicante City Council and half by Hidraqua
English website only
Can you deal with them in English?
The Aguas de Alicante website has a genuine English version alongside Spanish and Valencian, which is more than most Spanish water companies offer. What we could not verify is any commitment that a phone call, an office appointment or a disputed bill will be handled in English. Treat the English site as a convenience rather than a guarantee.
We checked the major water companies across Spain and marked which ones actually deal with customers in English. See every city in the table .
The Costa Blanca question: whose water contract is it?
This is the thing that actually causes problems around Alicante, and it has nothing to do with what is in the water.
Your own meter, or the community's
In a lot of Costa Blanca urbanisations and developments, the municipal company bills the community rather than each property, and the community then divides it up. If that is your situation there may be no water contract in your name at all, you may not be able to see the underlying bill, and how your share is calculated depends on the community's own rules rather than on anything national.
Ask one question before you sign anything
Does this property have its own water contract and meter, or is the water billed through the community? Ask it before you rent or buy, not afterwards. The answer decides who you deal with for the rest of the time you live there, and it changes what happens if a pipe fails somewhere between the main meter and your kitchen.
Second homes carry a standing cost
A great many properties here are used for part of the year. An empty property still generates standing charges, meter charges and any community allocation, so a zero-occupancy month is not a zero bill. The bigger risk is a leak running unnoticed in a property nobody visits and whose bills nobody reads.
Just moved in on the Costa Blanca?
Get the last water bill from the landlord, seller or agent and photograph the meter with the reading visible on the day you take over. If there is no bill because water comes through the community, that is the answer to the more important question, and worth getting in writing from the administrator.
We deal with them for you
We contact your local water company and get the bill moved into your name, in English.
Works whether the water is running or has been switched off
Free, and we earn no commission on water
We will offer to check your other bills, which is how we make our money
Yes. It is treated to Spain's national drinking water standards and monitored by the water company, the regional health authority and the national database. You can check the current classification for your own supply zone on the national database.
There is no reliable current citywide figure published, and hardness varies between networks anyway. Rather than repeat a general Costa Blanca number that may not apply to your street, look up the published results for your own supply zone.
Mostly habit and taste preference rather than test results. Chlorine is added everywhere in Spain to keep water safe on the way to your tap, and some people dislike it. That is a taste question, not a safety one, and a carbon jug filter deals with most of it.
Aguas de Alicante, a mixed company owned half by Alicante City Council and half by Hidraqua. Nearby towns differ: Torrevieja has AGAMED and Benidorm has Hidraqua under their own municipal arrangements.
Because the municipal company may bill the community rather than each home, with the community then dividing the cost. In that case there is no contract in your name and no individual bill. Ask the administrator how your share is worked out and whether you can see the underlying invoice.
Its website has an English version, which helps. We could not verify that a phone call or an office appointment will be handled in English, so plan for the transaction itself to run in Spanish.
Still have questions?
We will sort the water bill while you unpack
Free, in English, whether the water is running and the contract just needs your name on it or the supply has been switched off and needs reactivating. We make our money on electricity and internet, and we will offer to look at those too.
Linus moved from Sweden to Málaga in 2021 and set his own home up here, so most of this he has already done the hard way once. Before Settlewell he spent years at Workwide, the cross-border recruiter that has helped over 10,000 people into jobs abroad, latterly as its Head of Recruitment and Operations. He speaks Spanish, lives in Málaga with his partner, and spends his days on the phone to Spanish providers.
Reviewed by Simon Nilsson, Founder & CEO·Last reviewed
Where this comes from
Written from the water company's own published information, Spain's national drinking water database and regional water data. Water quality and drought status change, so check the official sources below for the current position.
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Tap water in Alicante
Aguas de Alicante
