water

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we can drink right out of the rivers. So I guess we're spoiled and get nervous about the water in foreign places.
(just kidding about drinking out of the rivers)

We use to drink out of the Sierra lakes and streams. But then the outdoor equipment industry invented water filters and Giardia.

History. Maybe experience in Mexico influences thinking that is the country that most Americans visit.

Pam

I've heard that if you've ever had giardia, you won't again drink from rivers and lakes. I don't have personal experience, but I think this was the good thing about the outdoor recreational industry inventing the water filters. In the old days in the Sierras we boiled water but it took an hour to cool down to drinking temperature.

Joan,
Don't be amazed, just be understanding.

Water is so very necessary for us, and people need to know. There are MANY countries in the world where we as Americans are advised to NOT drink the tap water (or to be careful with fresh fruits/vegs).

When we were on a Rick Steves' tour in Italy (years ago), I was surprised when the guide told us that most of the locals in Florence (at that time) did not drink the tap water. Seems there had been a bad flood that may have affected the local water supply. I wish I had known that ahead of time, as we had a day or two in the city on our own before our tour started. (We had no resulting health issues.)

In Buenos Aires (granted, it is not Europe), after also reading of no warnings, etc. one of the naturalists on our National Geographic expedition happened to mention he would never drink the water in Buenos Aires....again tied into flood issues. The river from where we were told the water comes was very muddy. For that trip, yes, I did have some significant intestinal issues....after a simple antibiotic did not take care of it, we went with the heavy duty ones.

I also remember being in a small village in Italy, seeing someone who appeared to be from a restaurant roll up a wagon with a bunch of individual water bottles with caps (like one would get when purchasing bottled water at a restaurant) and filling them up at the local public fountain...the same on pigeons were bathing in.............hmmmmm.

So, Joan you are amazed at the questions????? I'm not.

While there may be isolated problems with water in the US (small communities who use well water that may later find out was contaminated from the discharge of a previous factory, etc.), generally there is not much variance in the water quality within our own country. If a restaurant worker were spotted filling up water bottles where pigeons bathe in the US, it would hit the evening news!!! In Italy, we smiled and accepted it as 'part of the charm' and ordered wine (instead of water)!!!!!

People are not necessary 'nervous' as you say.........they are just asking questions to learn. That's what this forum is designed to do....to share knowledge and help people learn.

I don't get the water bottle thing- why lug around a heavy filled bottle when it seems like there's a kiosk or convenience store around every corner selling a bottle of water (still, mineral, fizzy....) for pocket change? And I have fun exploring those convenience stores- amazing how many interesting things you can find in a Carrefour Express that's not much bigger than my living room.

And excess water consumption also leads to having to end up an uplanned quest for the sometimes elusive European public restroom sooner than expected.

I only drink beer and wine in Europe. No problem.

We're heading to China, again. We were advised on our first and only other trip to China to only drink bottled water or boiled water, beer etc. It's amazing how ingrained for us to use sink faucet water to rinse after brushing ones teeth. I forgot several times but fortunately didn't suffer adverse consequences.

As a point of interest, it seems that a number of continental European counties push bottled water at meals. Still bottled water can be as costly as beer. We're spoiled here on the North American west coast where tap water is both good and complimentary and even comes with ice.

We do get the 1.5 liter bottles of both still and sparkling water when we are in Europe to take to our room. We get bottled water, always frizzante, in the largest size we can get it when we eat out. Yeah, we are obsessed with con gas water when we are there. That's probably because it is such a rarity here. I don't drink alcohol and my husband needs more than a glass of wine or a beer with a meal.

We do not carry bottled water around with us like we were hiking in the desert, or even driving around here at home. If we get thirsty, we stop and take a break. We are not in such a rush to see and do everything that 30 minutes or an hour is a problem for our sightseeing itinerary. In fact it is a welcome respite in a sea of activity when we can watch others on the move from a calm and relaxed position.

I'm also usually amazed by the concern over the cost of bottled water, which to me seems very low compared to the overall cost of the trip.

In all honesty, I must say that we have not traveled in a hot place in July or August, and I did come off the Acropolis in October with great gratitude that the little juice kiosk was there with icy drinks to help cool me down and boost my diminishing blood sugar level.

As someone else has mentioned, you can get a touch of something from water that simply has a different bacterial mix than you are used to. I learned about that when I was growing up in San Antonio. Sometimes people who came up from Mexico would have issues with our exceedingly pure, untreated aquifer water of the time. Funny, here in my retirement years near Tucson, we have "city" water, but where we live, it actually comes from an untreated aquifer, not the treated Central AZ Project water that is found in the city.

I guess some would freak out about the water I drank when I was a kid, as well as what we have now. I shouldn't mention the many springs I also drank from as a kid. We just had to make sure we weren't too close to the cows.

I amazed how many people think they have to buy bottled water in France. You don't. All tap water is fine to drink, and FREE, by law, if you order a meal. Nothing like Italy where the tap water is in fact drinkable in most places but restaurants will still insist you buy water.. locals are just used to it ( buying water) but there are free water fountains all over Rome.. smart/frugal tourists and locals fill up their bottles there.

Lo.. water with gas is hard to find where you live.. really.. its all over Canada.. didn't think the States was that different.. Perrier, San Pellagrino, Soda Water.. etc etc..

I admit I do find it strange that people ask "is the water safe".. Europe has no third or even second world countries.. of course the water is safe. It may however taste funny in some places.. and the different balance of minerals in some places may upset some sensitive peoples stomaches.

I have drank the water every where.. including Greece .. for many decades.. and been fine.

"We're spoiled here on the North American west coast where tap water is both good and complimentary and even comes with ice."

From what I've heard in recent news reports, that may not be the case much longer in some parts of California. In addition to banning lawn sprinklers and causing people to fill-in their swimming pools, many restaurants have stopped serving water with meals unless requested.

As far as drinking water in Europe, I've always found the quality good and have no problem drinking from the tap or from public fountains (as long as they're labelled as "potabile"). The one exception is Greece, where in some parts of the country it was necessary to use only bottled water. This was necessary both due to safety concerns or simply because the tap water tasted really BAD.

I'm with the others - I keep a larger bottle, or 2 , in my room (love frizzante), and when I am out and about, I enjoy stopping for a drink, whether from a convenience store or cafe. I prefer to not lug around bottles with me all day.

And, of course, there is beer and wine.......

Some newer travelers might have heard stories about undrinkable water in Mexico or Southeast Asia and are understandably wondering. Seems silly to those of us who have been to Europe often, but put yourself in their shoes. It's all new!

Some people are very budget conscious and know it's hard to get tap water free at a restaurant. So the availability of water fountains is important. Just because the tap water is fine doesn't mean there are drinking fountains around. They aren't going to want to go drink out of a public restroom faucet! So that's useful info.

Personally, I get water at a restaurant or at one of the billion convenience stores. If I buy a bottle and drink it I might keep it to refill later that day (then I'll recycle it) but I don't usually carry a bottle from home. Too much weight, water is cheap.

I don't get the water bottle thing- why lug around a heavy filled bottle when it seems like there's a kiosk or convenience store around every corner selling a bottle of water

Because it's wasteful when there are other options. Reuse/recycle whenever possible is sort of the rule of the day whenever possible, and is drummed into heads at every U.S. National Park; at least 23 of them don't even SELL bottled water with more added to the list every year. And why buy it when what's available out of taps and fountains is perfectly drinkable? And what if there isn't a tap or fountain or shop around when you need it?

BTW, I watched a vendor in Paris refill plastic bottles from a public water source and recap them to sell. Nope, give me my own bottle, thanks. That's why you're always supposed to check them to make sure the safety seal hasn't been broken/removed when purchasing them on the street anywhere at all.

But some people's systems can get out of whack with just the smallest change of location. My mother was prone to difficulties just traveling state-to-state in the U.S. As someone else said, it was due to low levels of different bacteria that she was especially sensitive to.

Zion NP really did have awesome spring water for you to fill your own bottle with. Course that awesomeness might have been in part that it was 102F in the valley when we were there.

I never buy bottled water for the house. We've got an under the sink water filter in the kitchen because, like a lot of places in Florida, the local water supply, while perfectly safe, tastes a little funky. But city in Europe is different than hike in a national park- instead of a proper day pack that I can comfortably pack a fair amount of weight into, I've got a cross body purse I try to keep light in the name of spine health.

So all of that water you see in the stores in Europe is for tourists? Simply Amazing!!! Wow!!

Dedicated drinking fountains are much more common in the US than they are in Europe. Here, almost any museum, theater, park, or other public space that has restrooms has a drinking fountain next to them, often refrigerated, and they're also available on downtown street corners in cities like Seattle and Portland. Not so in Europe. But with your own bottle or cup, you can get water from other forms of taps in enough places to get you through the day. You just have to look for them.

I too agree with you on this.

Regarding water fountains in France: if it says "eau non potable" it means non-drinking water. If it says nothing, it means you can fill your bottle there and drink it with no problem (I'm talking about small fountains and stone troughs here, not the ornamental ones of course). Generally speaking if the water spout is close and handy enough to fill up your bottle, it was at one point a drinking fountain, and if there isn't a No Drinking sign there, it still is.

When I was a teenager I went on a school trip in the Alps and we stopped at a little fountain just outside a village that had two plaques affixed to it: one was the aforementioned "eau non potable" and the other one said that Napoleon, on his horse, stopped by there during his campaign to conquer Italy and his horse drank from that fountain (that tiny village's claim to fame!). Some of my schoolmates were quite thirsty after our hike and drank from it anyway, and had no problems, nor did they go galloping into Italy, so make of that what you will...

"Lo, water with gas is hard to find where you live.. really.. its all over Canada.. didn't think the States was that different.. Perrier, San Pelligrino, Soda Water.. etc etc.."

I understood Lo to mean that it's hard to find it offered in some restaurants, and I'd absolutely have to agree with her. And even when it IS on the menu, that doesn't mean they actually stock it ('nobody ever orders that, so we don't have it').

I, too, often drink frizzante water in restaurants in Europe but rarely at home - it's a 'European vacation thing' for me, too! Although mostly I'm with Lee :-) Well, not literally...just about the beer-n-wine thing.

People - typically first-timers - get freaked out about drinking the water because so many guidebooks say NOT to drink the water. I suppose there are many reason for that, but it doesn't necessarily make it true. As already pointed out, many people's GI tracts are very sensitive to bacteria in 'foreign' locales even if it's just a couple of states away. I drink the water whether from taps or fountains, and I've never had a problem, but if you know your system may be sensitive to such things then by all means drink bottled water! Don't waste precious vacation days being sick :-(

As for carrying a bottle with me, I drink lots of water all day while I'm at home (dragging my aluminum bottle from room to room and store to store), so I definitely drink lots of water all day while on vacation. There aren't many things about my vacation schedule that are regular, so I keep things that ARE in my control as 'regular' as possible. Yes, that's exactly what I mean. And it works. And I like my water at room temperature, so I'm not constantly looking for ice-cold water sources. If I'm taking a long train ride and happen upon a 1L or 1.5L bottle I'll bring that, but usually I just use my plastic ('lightweight') .5L bottle while out and about and refill it over and over.

As another poster mentioned, all of this is new to somebody and it was once new to you, too. Maybe your thing wasn't about the water, but it WAS about your luggage...or packing list...or bathrooms down the hall...or if you could find Heinz ketchup...or if you checked luggage on trains like on airplanes...or how to read a bus schedule...or if the French hate English-speakers...or if the Venetian canals smelled badly...or do Germans drive on the 'right' side...or what exactly do I put in a moneybelt...or do I need a railpass...or do I need a neck pillow...and I won't even start in on the clothing LOL! Not having yet experienced things first-hand, plus (bad) anecdotal advice, equals 8^O !!!

I think many wish people would use the Search feature first......

When I first got to (W) Germany as a student backpacker, I only drank apple juice (didn't know about black currant juice then), Fanta (orange), beer, tea or coffee at breakfast in the hostel. The first time I tied mineral water with gas in Germany was a few weeks after arriving in Germany when some kids introduced it to me at the Münster/Westfalen hostel. Admittedly, it was strange. Like with other non-alcholic beverages, I started drinking mineral water with and w/o gas in Germany and France when I felt it was time to lay off the beer. In the mid-1980s (don't recall prior to that), I saw French mineral water being sold in Germany, like Volvic, Perrier, Vittel, Evian, of course, but not vice versa.

Of course, the tap water is safe to drink in Germany, France, Holland, etc. But the locals will buy mineral water, ie bottled water by the crates, just like beer, to have them delivered to their address. In Europe I have no problems drinking the tap water in the hotel room or mineral water (flat or with gas), be it a French label, Evian, Volvic, Badroit, Contrex, Vichy, etc or a local German label.

My test is to visit local grocery stores and if it's chock full of bottled water (not the high end sparkly stuff) and locals of apparent modest circumstances are buying...well, me too.

Because lots of Americans have never traveled overseas and all they hear is about water in Mexico.

Some people also think that only in North America people have drinking water available through their taps, whereas on the other side of the Oceans (including Europe), people have to walk hundreds of miles every day to the closest river, where they can refill their jug and carry it back home on their head.

The first time I visited the US well over 30 years ago, an elderly 90+ y.o. Italian American who had emigrated from Italy as a kid circa 1895 (I'm sure she's now passed away) and never returned to visit, asked me if in Florence we had electricity at home (I guess she didn't in her native Basilicata in 1895).

Not everybody is well traveled like the regulars on this website.

Is the tap water safe is an important question when you are traveling. Not just for drinking, but also for brushing your teeth. In most places in Europe, it is perfectly safe. Google CDC country of your choice to see what they think about the safety in the country you are visiting. CDC is very conservative on these matters. Certain parts of eastern/central Europe the CDC may say watch out, but your local travel health clinic may say no problem. I usually check with the latter because I have trouble brushing my teeth with bottled water. In much of Asia, you do need to use bottled water to brush. I was very careful in Kuala Lumpar and got a stomach ailment anyway. If you can get that, you can get Hepatitis A. Luckily I was immunized against that. Hep A is not something to be messed with, from what I have read it's like having the flu for a really long time. In Europe, mostly not an issue unless you venture to (far) Eastern Europe.

I just received a bulletin that seems especially timely to this discussion.....

http://isthewatersafetodrink.com/?utm_source=2015+Spring+eNewsletter&utm_campaign=cb561154d5-Spring_2015_eNewsletter5_1_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cdee3de155-cb561154d5-303753613

It doesn't cover every city on earth, but provides a general idea.

American ciry water can be suspect on occasion. Portland dumped 38 million gallons last year when video surveillance showed suspicious activity into an uncovered reservoir.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/04/portland_will_flush_38_million.html

And there's the West Virginia Elk River contamination. Bottled water for all.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/dont-drink-the-water-west-virginia-after-the-chemical-spill-20140312
Rolling Stone said "Don't drink the water".

Florence takes most of its water from the river, of course heavily filtered. Till a few years ago most people drank mineral water, not because tap water was dangerous but because id did not taste very good. But a new generation of filters is working now so most persons, as well as most schools, have switched to tap water. You can also check online chemical analysis of tap water zone by zone.

Try drinking tap water in Turkey, Bulgaria, etc and I will be glad to visit your hospital bed and discuss it with you. In most of Europe, I have no problem with tap water but when you are in a country where even the locals warn you against it, I would heed that warning unless you wan to be very seriously ill. The difference is that not all countries have safety measures for water purity.

The tap water in Los Angeles is safe (they tell us) but smells awful. Bottled water is a big industry here and water costs more than gasoline which seems like a huge scam but people pay for it (including me). Restaurants for years don't serve water unless you ask for it because besides the water to fill the glass it takes twice that amount to wash the glass.
I carry a water bottle at home and while traveling and refill it often. Going through multiple plastic bottles is tremendously wasteful. Things that dehydrate you are flying, walking in the heat of the day and drinking alcohol all of which we do on our travels. I used to lead SCUBA trips (another dehydrating activity) and someone in the group would always have flu-like symptoms after the second day. It was always dehydration from not enough water because drinking juice, coffee, beer and cokes don't rehydrate you. Drink lots of water and if you don't have to find a bathroom a few times a day you are asking for trouble.

Terry Lynn, I have drunk tap water with no problem all over western Turkey in more than one visit and several parts of Bulgaria. Our Turkish guides do advise customers not to drink tap water in Istanbul itself, but don't have the same concern for other parts of the tour route. Our Bulgarian guides advise not to drink tap water along the Black Sea coast, but again no problem at the rest of the tour destinations.

This is different from Morocco, for instance, where it would not be a good idea to ever drink tap water. I did so during a long stay in Fes, which is proud of it's underground springs, but then I was sick a lot. However, drinking well water from the donkey bucket on a remote farmer's field seemed to have no ill effect.