A/HRC/36/45/Add.1 compelling all drinking water suppliers to develop a drinking water quality control plan. The role of the health authorities is to undertake sanitary surveillance in addition to the drinking water operators by performing monitoring and official quality control. The health authorities are also in charge of conducting risk analysis in cases of non-compliance, defining any risks associated with the protection of human health and the procedures to minimize or eliminate those risks. 53. In relation to the possible health risks relating to consumption of tap water, Portuguese law requires that every provider has 24 hours to communicate any noncompliance using the Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority portal tool, allowing the Regulation Authority and the health authorities to proceed with an immediate evaluation. Besides registering non-compliant cases, the provider has to register the causes, the remedial actions and the results of verification analyses to evaluate the efficacy of remedial actions. 54. Furthermore, the Ministry of Health manages epidemiological surveillance based on electronic online software for national notifiable infectious diseases in 85 per cent of Portuguese health-care centres and hospitals. 23 The national epidemiological surveillance system facilitates investigation procedures relating to water-related disease and the identification of causalities. Following a notification from the system, local health authorities conduct epidemiological investigation for every case of water-related disease and register related information in the system. 55. While the Special Rapporteur recognizes the progress made in terms of the quality of drinking water and the monitoring processes, he nonetheless wishes to highlight the fact that there is still a gap to be filled. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur witnessed the pride of some officials with regard to the recent progress in water quality control, asserting that Portugal “currently has no more water-related diseases”. That statement, however, contradicts data from the epidemiologic surveillance system, which shows a number of remaining cases of diseases that may be linked to drinking water supply. Furthermore, the statement is not compatible with the situation of almost all countries in the world, where cases of water-borne disease, particularly diarrhoea, are identified from time to time. The Special Rapporteur notes that the assessment of a good performance of the service providers in ensuring safe drinking water quality should not be a reason for the Government to neglect the rigorous water quality and epidemiological surveillance. That is relevant both to areas supplied by networked systems that risk facing occasional outbreaks and to individual solutions that are not usually monitored or supported by the State. 56. In addition, the Special Rapporteur observed that Portugal lacks a proper mechanism for providing access to information on drinking water quality for users. Although information is available on websites, he recommends setting up a more proactive system, for instance, including regular information on water bills, as the Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority has been recommending since 2010. C. Affordability 57. Affordability, as a human rights criterion, requires that the use of water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and services is accessible at a price that is affordable to all people. Paying for those services must not limit people’s capacity to acquire other basic goods and services guaranteed by human rights, such as food, housing, health, clothing and education. Affordability standards must be considered together with standards for an adequate quantity and quality of water and sanitation to ensure that human rights standards are met (see A/HRC/30/39, para. 25). 58. The most recent annual report of the Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority notes that on average, drinking water service charges represent 0.4 per cent of the average household disposable income, whereas sanitation service charges represent 0.3 per cent. In relation to standards regulating the affordable charges for water and sanitation 23 See www.dgs.pt/servicos-on-line1/sinave-sistema-nacional-de-vigilancia-epidemiologica.aspx. 13