A consumer protection group has taken legal action against municipal authorities in Oinofyta, north of Attica, after they failed to honor a promise to replace toxic drinking water in the area with a clean supply.

“It is illogical for the municipality to charge for the provision of substandard water,” Dimitris Spyrakos, a lawyer for the Greek Quality of Life Consumer Union (EKPOIZO), told Kathimerini.

Tests in the summer showed that local tap water, drawn from the heavily polluted Asopos River, contains high traces of potentially carcinogenic hexavalent chromium and other chemicals.

Authorities had pledged to start work on a new pipeline linked to the Mornos reservoir, promising clean water by Christmas. But only one of two water pipes have been built and a planned filtration unit has not been started. Local authorities blame the weather for the delay. Officials say it will take at least two months for work to be completed.