City councilor Davor Petračić has asked the City of Karlovac to hire a foreign laboratory for a comprehensive analysis of drinking water, after five years of turbidity and public distrust.
City councilor Davor Petračić published an open letter to the City of Karlovac on August 19, 2026, demanding a comprehensive and independent analysis of drinking water quality, including sampling at water sources and in the water supply network. According to Radio Mrežnica, Petračić believes that due to years of water turbidity issues and distrust among some citizens, an independent, accredited foreign laboratory should be engaged.
In the letter, Petračić notes that Karlovac has not had unquestionably safe and healthy drinking water for five full years. "Of course, this is about unquestionably safe and healthy drinking water that Karlovac no longer has, for five years now," Petračić said. He added that many citizens have been drinking bottled water for years, while those with lower incomes rely on sight or taste to decide whether to drink it.
As an example of an independent laboratory, Petračić cites AGROLAB GROUP from Munich, Germany, accredited under the European standard DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025. According to his proposal, the analysis should include samples from the wells at Gazi and the wells near the football stadium, as well as samples from the network itself to test residual chlorine.
"Enough of uncertainty and bickering about what water we drink. I demand an analysis by an independent foreign laboratory, such as AGROLAB GROUP (Munich, Germany), accredited under the strict European standard DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025, which will test the water at the source itself, the wells at Gazi and the wells near the football stadium, with the broadest spectrum analysis, as well as in the network itself to test residual chlorine."
According to the request, samples should be taken without prior notice to prevent any potential concealment of the actual state of the water in the wells and the network.
Petračić is calling for testing of a wide range of parameters, including heavy metals, pesticides, PFAS compounds, TFA acids, microplastics, chlorination byproducts, radiological indicators, and potential compounds linked to historical and military contamination. He particularly emphasizes testing for PFAS compounds according to the requirements of the German Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA), which is based on a group of 20 defined compounds (the so-called Summe PFAS-20), with a focus on the four most critical representatives (PFAS-4).
Due to asbestos pipes, he also calls for asbestos testing according to the US EPA standard using the TEM method, with a limit of up to 7 million fibers per liter. Due to the military training ground in Slunj, located upstream, he also calls for testing for compounds such as TNT, RDX, HMX, BTEX group, depleted uranium, white phosphorus, and chlorinated solvents.
Petračić claims that Vodovod i kanalizacija Karlovac is in a direct conflict of interest when it tests the water itself for the A analysis or cooperates in preparing samples for the control B analysis. "The analysis needs to be done to determine the true state of drinking water in the area of the city of Karlovac because Vodovod i kanalizacija, ViK is in a direct conflict of interest when it tests the water itself for the A analysis or cooperates in preparing water samples for the control B analysis, i.e., the super-analysis," he stated.
Petračić is asking the City of Karlovac to publicly state whether it will finance the independent analyses or whether citizens will have to collect the money themselves. "I ask the City of Karlovac to publicly declare whether it will pay for these analyses or whether we citizens must collect the money ourselves for these analyses," he said. At the same time, he calls on all political parties in Karlovac to publicly state whether they support such testing.
From the Mayor of Karlovac, Petračić expects to come before the public as soon as possible with data on the exact cause of frequent water turbidity, what needs to be done with the network to eliminate turbidity and how much it will cost, whether other disinfection methods that are less harmful to health are planned, and how water loss in the network, currently around 70 percent, will be controlled. He also seeks answers on whether the current sources, i.e., the wells that are in the most strategically unfavorable position relative to pollution sources, meet the city's needs, and whether new, strategically more favorable water sources are planned. For all of this, he demands the public disclosure of exact implementation deadlines.
"Enough is enough!" Petračić concluded in the open letter, calling on citizens and political actors to get involved in resolving the issue of water quality in Karlovac.
