Water problem in Europe?

Don't know what you have been reading, but free water is widely available in Europe. Can find it about anywhere.

Water is not scarce over here in Europe, so not quite sure what your source of info is, but it is incorrect. You can get water everywhere, fill up your bottles, or get carafes of it in restaurants.

First of all don't use a public water fountain (I've seen people letting their dogs use it here and in Europe...yuck). Just fill up your water bottle (make that TWO water bottles) at the hostel or whatever. Public water in the EU and the US is perfectly fine. This whole bottled water thing is a marketing scam (and my opinion is not my own....check out the RAND research site). There ARE differences in actual taste due to local mineral deposits. Yes yes, and the water in non EU countries is not included in this comment. We have the best potable water in the history of mankind. Think about it folks and then think green.

As always you can get free triple filtered water from starbucks. They seem to be everywhere.

There are some countries where public water fountains are rare. Belgium and the Netherlands come to mind.

Water is not scarce in Europe. But public water fountains as you know them in Northamerica may be far and few between. Just be prepared to fill up your bottle at a washroom sink or at your hotel/hostel before you leave for the day. The water quality there will be excellent.

In Italy the water at the beautiful (and often historic) fountains in public places is usually potable, in other countries that's not always the case.

While water is not "scarce" Europeans generally treat water more as a precious resource and try not to waste it. That means, for example, that most showers you encounter will be outfitted with low-flow shower heads to preserve water. And if you get to use a washer be prepared to know how to use a front-loader.

I just filled my water bottle up in bathroom sinks. Plenty of those!

In the UK do not drink the water from bathroom taps/faucets. Unless you are in a very new building, and even then you cannot be sure, it will have been stored in a holding tank probably unsealed and likely located in the roofspace ie it is not a direct supply from the mains. In my house the kitchen tap is the only one that supplies drinking water.

Hi Linda,

would hotels operate in a similar fashion? During my trip to London I refilled my water bottle every morning from the bathroom tap. The water tasted just fine and I never experienced any tummy troubles. How do you brush your teeth then if the water in your bathroom is not safe?

I have never encountered Linda's advice. We have spent about 30 days in London with never a problem using the local water. I find it odd to believe that they would be storing water in uncovered tanks on roofs. I am going to check with some of my English friends.

Frank - I did not say on the roof but in the roofspace/attic. The tank will have a lid but it must be removable for cleaning and repairs.

I happily brush my teeth with water from the bathroom tap, but drink water that is freshly drawn from the mains because it has not been sitting around for hours/days in a holding tank. Public washrooms that do have an "indirect" supply to the taps should post warning notices that the water is not suitable for drinking.

http://www.housewiz.co.uk/plumbing-wizard/safe-drinking-water.htm

Sorry to have caused any alarm. Having grown up with it, it is just second nature to not drink from anywhere but the kitchen tap. It was seeing the comments about filling water bottles that suddenly reminded me that visitors might not be aware of something that we take for granted.

PS ask your accommodation provider whether the water supply in the bathroom is ok to drink.

Linda is right about UK bathrooms being supplied with water from a tank in the loft. I was reminded of this recently when I was woken up by water dripping on my head! It's absolutely fine to brush your teeth or rinse your mouth out with this water, but most people would not drink it. Kitchen tap water comes straight from the mains. I have always assumed hotel bathrooms are supplied with water from the mains.

I must have one iron clad stomach because I have filled my water bottle from bathroom taps everywhere from England to Romania! lol
Locals in Germany told me it is safe and said that they have some of the cleanest drinking water in the world. Maybe they have a different system? Can anyone verify that?

Kate; yes, in Germany (and I think in all of continental Europe) water from a tap (excluding mobile ones like campers or ships) comes from the mains.

These water storage tanks are a British quirk.

I drank water from the bathroom tap the whole time I was in London, two different week long trips. I never seemed to have any problems with it and it tasted just fine to me!!! Now I will think twice about doing that...
I do know that my Brit husband said not to drink HOT water from the taps, i.e. dont make instant coffee or anything from it as they sometimes use copper pipes and it can get in the hot water.

It's probably worth noting that storage tanks are only an issue in houses with older plumbing - don't give them a second thought in hotels.

And copper pipes? Almost all internal plumbing is copper (in both the UK and US.)

Perhaps I’m missing something, but how might this British system differ from the rooftop water tanks in NYC? Most of the city’s water doesn’t come directly from the main but from rooftop holding tanks. They’re required to be cleaned once yearly, and I’ve never met anyone who was concerned about drinking the water directly from the tap when visiting New York. I guess if you worry about this stuff at home, you might point to impurities and contaminants in systems across the U.S. and in Europe, but I find it unlikely that the typical traveler should need to worry about drinking tap water while on vacation anywhere in the western European countries. If you’re heading to Bangladesh, however, I would recommend sticking with Evian.

Michael I had been thinking this same thing! I lived in NYC for a long time in a high-rise apt. building
with a water tank on the roof. You see them everywhere! No problems with drinking the water!!

I also have traveled quite a bit in the UK and drink the water everywhere! If you are in a hotel room and you want to take a pill in the morning, you just run the bathroom tap. Never a problem in many, many years of traveling in England staying in B and Bs as well as hotels.

Even if the piping in Britain was made from lead (which it isn't), on a short trip, you would not absorb nearly enough to pose a health hazard (different story if you drank out of lead piping everyday). Copper piping causes no health threat, either for short term or long term exposure.

It's really not an issue for tourists at all. In a hotel any non-potable taps will be labelled.

In a private home rather than large high rise you have the possibility that the owner has knocked the cover off or not maintained the tank which is I guess where the advice comes from. Growing up my parents has a cold water storage tank and the water never did me any harm but even if the risk is tiny (which it is) why not just use the mains fed taps?

I know some Americans are a bit paranoid about the water "overseas" and I hate this harmless plumbing quirk (that isn't especially common nowadays) to give anyone undue worries before their holidays.

Tap water is very safe in Europe, but I am not sure about the one from bathroom tap. I heard is not that good. Never drank from the bathroom tap, but many times from the kicken tap and never had any problems.
What I do when I go to Europe, I take my little Nissan thermos with me, 1/2 L I think. It hold the water temperature for hours. I take it empty of course and buy water from the supermarkets.It's very inexpensive. .30-.50 EUR for 1 L , even 1.5 L.
Didn't see many fountains in Europe. Maybe in Germany.