France, Sept. 23 -- A French television documentary has revealed that tap water in at least one quarter of French urban areas is below the health standards set by the government's water quality agency. Pollution by pesticides is the main problem.

Last year, one-fifth of the French population-12million people-drank contaminated water, either regularly or occasionally.

In 2020, less than 6 percent of the population was affected.

How bad things are depends on where you live. But no French region escapes.

In the northern Hauts-de-France region, the water supply to 65 percent of the population is affected.

It's 43 percent in western Brittany, witha quarter ofhouseholds concerned in the east near the border with Germanyaccording to journal...