Drinking Water in London

Patty,

The drinking water in London is excellent quality (IMO), and you should have no problems.

adding to Emma's comments, in parts of the UK with 'soft water' (Wales, North and West of England and in Scotland) the water that comes out of the tap is virtually mineral water.

When it comes to the UK, ask any British person about Dasani. If they remember it at all they will remember it as Coca Cola doing in reality what the sitcom 'Only Fools and Horses' did in an episode.

And, I think that the pressure for bottled water in the US is all marketing. Somehow Madison Avenue has convinced Americans that tap water just doesn't taste very good. The only reasons I buy bottled water is if a hurricane or other disaster is imminent or if I forgot my water bottle for a trip. Just think what we could have done with all the money spent on bottled water....

Pam

Tap water is perfectly safe in London and elsewhere.

Save the landfills & your wallet(!) and skip the plastic bottled water. Order tap water and drink easy.

It is a bit of a myth the 'drunk x times already' line. However, the water will be fine; whether you like the taste or not is a personal matter.

Echoing Pam's comment - the pressure to drink bottled water comes from the people trying to sell it, at prices vastly greater than the cost of tap water. The US public water system - and that of the parts of Western Europe I've been to - is very safe, with significant testing to make sure it's safe. Bottled water, however, is not subject to the same regulations and is also seriously depleting groundwater supplies in some parts of the US. Not to mention the environmental cost of all the plastic bottles and of trucking all that water all over the place. I've very happily drunk tap water in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and many more places with no problem.

However, I think Kent's idea to stick to beer whenever possible is very sound...though it's not really practical for things like brushing your teeth...

Patty,

To add to my earlier post, you may be interested in some further information about tap water....

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Clearbrook+water+judged+best+world/9540309/story.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255803/Bottled-water-safe-tap-despite-costing-1-000-times-more.html

While I had no problems,neither physical nor mental, drinking English water, I did wonder about the Keld (North Yorkshire) water. On departing Keld, I couldn't help notice that the East Gill and River Swale water was very discolored. Given Keld's mining history of lead extraction from the hills above Keld, I couldn't help wondering about their water. That said, the UK is a first world nation and the tea tasted just fine.

Thanks everyone for your response to the "water" question in London. I will drink the water and save my money for fun things in the City.

Patty

Hey, I need a good option for water purification of around 1m gal per day? Can anybody tell me the solution?

The Swale in Keld will have a tint due to the peat moors above.In heavy rain looks like black coffee.
That said the drinking water will be treated mains water,and much better tasting than any bottled water.
Its vary rare for even isolated places not to be on the mains water.

@smithlina

your piggybacked question on a thread long closed is:

Hey, I need a good option for water purification of around 1m gal per day? Can anybody tell me the solution?

You want to purify a million gallons a day?

Why?

I would send your questions to the company which make industrial water products.

For people in London, which is where your question is posted at the end of, the water is already pure.

Is there something we are missing?

We advise travelers the water is safe to drink in all European countries with the exception of Turkey, where you might want to take a little more caution.

It is an English speaking country, of course the water is safe!

It is an English speaking country....

True, they do speak English in London. And looking at bottled water consumption per capita, England is not in the Worldwatch top ten.
http://www.worldwatch.org/files/images/20070508-bottled-water-larg.jpg

Looking at Worldwatch's 2005 top ten list on a per capita basis of bottled water, the Italians, French and Spanish must have the worst water. China and India are not even close on a per capita basis.

Go ahead and drink the London water. Most B&Be and hotels have hot water kettles to let you boil the water. And the tea helps hide the taste.

We advise travelers the water is safe to drink in all European countries with the exception of Turkey, where you might want to take a little more caution.

Ouch! Russia west of the Urals is in Europe and there's enough heavy metal in the water there . . .

Don't use the amount of bottled water sold as a guide! On the north shores of the med there's a huge influx of tourists who buy the stuff because, like British cuisine, there's a holdover reputation from the Dark Days Of Flares that just refuses to die even though it's been obsolete for ages. Our one and only package holiday back at the start of the 80's was to Torremolinos and everyone came down with Diego's Revenge, but a decade later the water treatment had been brought up to the same standards as the rest of us. Nowadays you'll only get a bad dose of the Excuse Me's from eating in the grottier restaurants where kitchen hygiene involves finding a clean bit of apron to wipe hands on, or suspiciously cheap seafood places 200 miles from the nearest salt water. The old soviet-block countries are a bit hit and miss - most have good plant but a lot is badly maintained. The eastern med, all sides, you'd want to buy either bottled water or lots of loo paper. The former is heaver but a lot less inconvenient...
Of course, even in north west europe you have to have some care: make sure the tap you use is potable water, not grey water! Some outdoors taps, used for garden hoses etc, run 2nd-use water. Soap residue leaves a horribly gritty feeling in your mouth. Don't ask.
Bottled water sales here are especially designed to provide people with their daily dose of imamugium. Anyone else remember coca-cola's Dasani? Tip of the day: here in the UK, always ask for tap water not just water! And in Russia learn to add an extra K to the middle of "woda" and you'll be fine... ;)

OK...no idea what imamugium is! Am I being dense and missing a play on words or is it an actual thing?

I'm-a-mug(ium)