By Linus Palmqvist, Head of Operations Reviewed by Simon Nilsson· Last reviewed
Yes. It is treated to national standards, and Valencia is one of the easier Spanish cities to deal with as a foreigner: the water company explains the change of bill name in English, and its online form is built to accept a bank account from elsewhere in Europe.
Valencia's tap water meets Spain's national drinking water standards and is monitored by EMIVASA, the regional health authority and the national database. Plenty of people here drink it straight from the tap and plenty buy bottled water because they prefer the taste. As everywhere in Spain, those are two different questions.
EMIVASA supplies the city of Valencia. Towns around it have their own operators, several of them run by the same parent group but under separate municipal contracts, so check your last bill rather than assuming this page applies to you.
Check your own supply zone
We could not find a current official hardness figure for Valencia that we would be willing to publish. What you can do in two minutes 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.
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Check what the water company publishes
EMIVASA has an English FAQ covering the water service and the change of bill name, which is unusual and genuinely useful.
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Then look at your building
Valencia has a lot of older apartment stock. A building with a storage tank, or a flat that has stood empty, tells you more about your tap than the citywide picture does.
Who supplies water in Valencia
EMIVASA runs the water service for the city of Valencia. As everywhere in Spain, you do not choose it and you cannot switch away from it. Neighbouring municipalities have their own operators under their own contracts.
EMIVASA
EMIVASA
A mixed company, owned by Valencia City Council together with Global Omnium
English website only
Can you deal with them in English?
EMIVASA publishes an English FAQ that explains the change of bill holder, which puts it among the better Spanish water companies for a foreign customer. What we could not verify is whether a phone call or an office visit will be handled in English. Treat the English pages as a real help with understanding the process, and expect the conversation itself to be in Spanish.
We checked the major water companies across Spain and marked which ones actually deal with customers in English. See every city in the table .
Paying a Valencia water bill from a foreign bank account
This is the practical thing Valencia does better than most, and it matters if you have not opened a Spanish bank account yet.
A non-Spanish European account is allowed
A euro account held elsewhere in the EU can be used for direct debits in Spain, and refusing a payment purely because the IBAN is not Spanish is against EU rules. That is the law everywhere in the country, not a Valencia concession.
Valencia's form is actually built for it
The difference is in the practice rather than the rule. EMIVASA's online change-of-holder form includes fields for non-Spanish European banking details, so you are not fighting a form designed around a Spanish account. Elsewhere in Spain a foreign IBAN often means manual handling and a slower process.
What still trips people up
A non-EU account does not get the same treatment, and a foreign IBAN can still mean the direct debit takes longer to set up. Keep an eye on the first couple of bills to make sure the mandate actually took.
Just moved into a flat in Valencia?
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. EMIVASA handles the change of bill name online, by phone or at its customer office, and its English FAQ explains what the process involves.
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 meets Spain's national drinking water standards and is monitored by EMIVASA, the regional health authority and the national database. You can check the current classification for your own supply zone on the national database.
We could not find a current official figure we would be willing to publish, and hardness varies between networks within a city anyway. Look up the results for your own supply zone rather than relying on a citywide number.
Mostly taste preference. Chlorine is added everywhere in Spain to keep the water safe on its way to your tap, and some people dislike it. A carbon jug filter deals with most of that, and it is a taste question rather than a safety one.
Yes. A euro account held elsewhere in the EU can be used for direct debits in Spain, and refusing it just because the IBAN is not Spanish is against EU rules. EMIVASA's online form is unusual in actually including fields for non-Spanish European bank details.
Partly. It publishes an English FAQ covering the change of bill holder, which is more than most Spanish water companies offer. We could not confirm that a phone call or an office visit will be handled in English.
EMIVASA, a mixed company owned by Valencia City Council together with Global Omnium. It serves the city; surrounding municipalities have their own operators.
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 Valencia
EMIVASA
