For context, I live in Hong Kong where most people drink tap water after boiling first. Some may install water filter but may still boil the water. Very few drink bottle water unless they’re outside and too lazy to bring their own bottles.
Now, I’m researching whether I can drink tap water in Iceland (I’m going there in August), and while it looks like the answer is affirmative, almost no web article mention whether I need to boil the water first. People in Japan (a country I’ve visited a few times) also seems to be used to drink tap water directly without boiling.
The further I searched, the more it seems to me that in developed countries (like US, Canada and the above examples), tap water is safe to drink directly. Is that true? Do you drink tap water without boiling?
It sounds like a stupid question but I just can’t believe what I saw. I think I experienced a cultural shock.
US here. Yes, can confirm I can, and do drink water from the tap without boiling. The city provides, maintains, and regularly checks the safety of the water. Notices are put out if something damages the pipes and a “water boiling” policy is put out promptly over local radio and/or newspaper.
It depends on where you live in the US for sure. Not everywhere has drinkable water. And even more places have poor-tasting or very hard tap water.
In the US, the only time you’d have to boil water before drinking in most places is if there’s something wrong with the water system and they put out a “boil water” advisory, and that’s pretty rare. It’s definitely not something you have to on a daily basis. Some people will use water filters but it’s not usually a necessity.
Very true. However in the less urban areas there is often well water which varies by jurisdiction from drinkable to toxic (even flammable!) Also some places in the US have water that is unsafe to use even if it was boiled. Usually water is handled on the local level and can be different depending on the local government’s ability, wisdom, and funding.
German here. Yes, constantly. The only reason to not do it would be taste (personal preference) or sometimes due to pollutants entering the system, which is explicitly communicated by the city.
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Yes, mineral content is usually the biggest factor for taste. But it is still perfectly safe to drink straight from the tap.
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Australian here. Yes, I regularly drink water from the tap without boiling it.
The only exception is if Sydney Water issue a “Boil water” alert. That usually only happens after really major flooding though.
West Aussie here, straight from the tap. Though different areas will taste different, they’re nearly all safe to drink. Any unsafe are well signed.
The taste of the water varies a fair bit depending on the area. I find northern suburbs of Perth water tastes a bit odd and would definitely want to filter it if I lived there.
Funny you say that, I’m NoR and think its fine 🙂
Another Australian here. Our water is safe to drink out of the tap. I drink tap water daily and have so all my life.
Another Australian here who drinks water on tap. Some places have bad tasting water but it’s still drinkable. It’s probably only bad because it’s different.
Adelaide water is fine now
I’ve lived in Canada and the US and I’ve never thought twice about drinking water straight from the tap.
In Germany tap water is considered “one of the most strictly controlled food products”
Yes. And i’m always stunned by how many people buy loads of bottled water at the Getränkemarkt. Just drink it from the tap or get one of those machines that make sparkling water if you like that?! There is no chlorine in ordinary german water and it tastes just fine.
I just moved here, I usually drink tap water but some places just have a weird taste to it which makes me wonder how often the individual taps are tested. While the source may be good, I don’t know about everything in between. I feel like I still need a filter.
I was one of those idiots. I sort of inherited the behavior from my parents.
When my employer bought some sparkling water machines, it dawned on me that I should do the same.
good quality water is an underappreciated factor in quality cuisine.
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Interestingly it’s perfectly safe to drink tap water in Hong Kong. But tradition and fear of the government keeps water boiling alive.
https://www.mychinainterpreter.com/china-travel-guide/can-you-drink-tap-water-in-hong-kong/
As opposed to say parts of the US where you really shouldn’t drink tap water but everyone does anyway. Flint Michigan looking at you.
Netherlands - we have some of the cleanest tap water here. You can drink water from any tap. Ironically bottled water from the shops is a big seller here and you see people with liters of the stuff in shopping trolleys and I’ve never been able to figure out why anyone would spend money on something that we have an abundance of in our houses
Yep. They’re alessentially the same but one is €1 per liter and the other about €0,25 per 1000 liters.
Lol, I was you 10 years ago. For context I’m Malaysian and we only drink water that is first filtered and then boiled. When eating outside we generally avoid iced drinks unless it’s a reputable shop.
Then I moved to Australia and reacted with utter horror to see my then-bf drink straight from the tap. I was like wtf you’re going to get parasites! Spit it out!
Now I drink water like Aussies and my kid refills her bottle from the tap too. My parents, when they visit, still boil water to drink but they’ve at least stopped thinking we’re trying to murder their grandchild.
Berlin, Germany: we drink water straight from the tap. It’s free and delicious. If you don’t feel like drinking tap, just drink a “Berliner Rohrperle”. It’s the same thing with a fancier name, because our tap water is awesome.
Nowadays we even have public drinking fountains dotted around the city.
What do you mean “free”? :D
Sure… it’s far from expensive, but it’s not really “free” as in “you don’t have to pay for your tapwater”.
True, it does cost about 0.2 cents per liter, so you’ll likely pay less than 2€ a year if you exclusively drink tapwater.
I’m in northern BC Canada. I drink out of the tap, sometimes without even using a glass
I insert the tap into my anal cavity to hydrate myself colonially. Refreshing, if a little cumbersome when I get thirsty during a visit from guests
Toronto tap water is actually very, very good. Tastes better than most bottled water I’ve tried. Very high standards here - we are extremely fortunate and I hope the high standards stay for a long, long time.
In Germany, Luxembourg and Norway I was drinking it straight from the tap. In Germany specifically, tap water is more regulated than bottled water you buy from the shop, making it safer to drink.
When I was living in Africa (Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Madagascar, Kenya) as well as now in China, tap water is generally considered unsafe for consumption, no matter if you boil it or not, due to the possibilities of heavy metal poisoning. At home I tested my water through a lab (twice with ~24 months in between) and it’s free of any dangerous metals or chemicals so I use it for cooking and for my coffee machine, but even though it’s supposedly drinkable I wouldn’t do so - neither boiled nor fresh.
Same applies for HK by the way, even though you don’t have as much heavy industry poisoning the water supplies, the proximity to Shenzhen alone means that there’s gotta be a ton of toxic fumes washing down that ends up in your freshwater supply. And while boiling gets rid of bacteria and stuff, many carcinogens are largely unaffected.
Water? Like from the toilet? :O
(j/k)
I believe in Canada we have high standards for our potable water, unlike the UK for example our water heaters need to be up to par (UK typically has seperate taps AFAIK).
So no need to boil, also if you’re trying to get rid of chlorine you can just use Brita filters, carbon filters that restaurants use do the same AFAIK. Also even cities like mine which (at least at some point before now) had way more houses than apartments still chlorinated the entire city’s supply.
Filters are insanely good these days. I was thinking about getting a life straw, but there’s a slightly more expensive alternative that can do like 500x more filtering before it needs to be replaced, and comes with a pouch you can fill and then pour into a regular water bottle. Life straws are meant to be drank from directly, and the alternatives that company offers are just water bottles with life straws built in - so you put unfiltered water in the bottle itself… Probably gets gross or requires constant cleaning
