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.
Edit: wow, thanks so much for the responses and sorry if I didnt reply to each one of you but I’ll upvote as much as as I can. Never thought so many would reply and Lemmy is a really great community.
2nd Edit: So in conclusion, people from everywhere basically just drink water straight out of tap. And to my surprise, I checked the Water Supplies Department website and notice it asserts that tap water in Hong Kong is potable, like many well-developed countries and regions.
However, as the majority of Hong Kong people are living in high-rise buildings, a small amount of residual chlorine is maintained in the water to keep it free from bacterial infection during its journey in the distribution system. Therefore it is recommended to boil the water so that chlorine dissipates.
So, in short, I actually do not need to boil the water unless I hate chlorine smell and taste. But I guess I’ll just continue this old habit/tradition as there’s no harm in doing so.
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.
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.
If you can’t drink your tap water without boiling, your government has totally failed you.
One thing to consider: While tab water in most of the developed world is potable,any water safety guarantees usually end where the house water pipes begin. Depending on the state of the piping, tap water might not be safe, even if the water supplyer says it’s safe.
You can get a water test (especially bacteria is important) for relatively cheap. Last time I did such a test it was ~€60. It’s not wrong to do one.
Also, the definition of potable water is that the water is potable after the tap has been running for 10(!) minutes.
Bacteria contaminated pipes are pretty common and if the water has been sitting in these biofilm-covered pipes over night or even longer, the water can become pretty harmful. Especially after you get home from a vacation, letting the water run for a decent amount of time might be a good thing.
Also: the worst thing that can happen to your water pipe system are blind pipes, so pipes that are connected only on one end. That could be e.g. left-over plumbing after remodeling or pipes that lead to unused taps. If at all possible, these ahould be removed or flushed at best daily.
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.
Netherlands: our tap water is better than bottled spring water
Canada: our bottled water IS tap water…
I just drink water straight from the tap
México. NO. Do not drink the tap water. Boiling does not help. It has a bunch of heavy metals and other contaminants in it. It sucks because mechanical filtering is incapable of removing them effectively. Reverse osmosis does but it is a challenging and expensive process to properly keep in your house. We always buy bottled water. Trucks deliver twice a week.
At home I exclusively drink tap water. I only boil it for tea sometimes :) I‘m from Germany.
Finland
Yes. Our tap water is among the cleanest on earth
UK. Yip. Water “hardness” varies across the country which means people usually prefer the taste of the water in the region they grow up in. Other than all the leaky underground pipes and lack of investment in a privatised service, UK water is actaully very good.
I live in a major Italian city, I’m well over fifty, and I’ve always drunk unfiltered water straight from the tap without boiling. Some Italians apparently don’t like the taste of tap water but it’s still safe to drink it unfiltered and unboiled in nearly all the country.
We filter our tap water here in Korea. Most people do, but as I understand, it’s safe to drink it just straight from the tap. It’s just better through a machine that gets rid of any lingering chlorine and heats it or chills it for you.
In the United States, it is a little bit different.
There are “standards” that water quality has to live up to. Do these standards actually meet the criteria for safe drinkable tap water? Not always. This is evident in places like Flint, Michigan and other poorer urban areas.
Some of the tap water can be so bad that people wouldn’t dare to drink it even after boiling.
In some areas, the tap water quality is wonderful.
Here is a relatively decent source about the topic as it pertains to the USA. https://wisevoter.com/state-rankings/best-tap-water-in-the-us/#:~:text=The ten states with the,%2C South Dakota%2C and Nevada.
The long story short here, is certain places like Hawaii have extremely clean tap. Other places, like Texas, are notorious for having numerous water quality violations.
It falls down to each individual State and City for maintaining the standards that were set. In my opinion, it it just an easy way for them to waive liability at the end of the day.
X.
Germany here. My family and I drink tap-water all the time. No problems. Sometimes the Water could be contaminated with certain bacteria, but thats rare and the local government will warn you.
