Drinking water in Italy

Hey, why would Rick lie about the water? :-) You don't have to worry about the water from public faucets at all. It's delicious, free and as safe as water in the US, with the exception noted above about "Non potabile". If there's no sign at the faucet, it's safe to drink. (Just don't go dunking your bottles into a big fountain to fill them up. Yuck.)

Hi! I am also going to Italy and am a little concerned about the water itself and spending money on it. I am looking into getting a Katadyn water bottle that removes bacteria, viruses, etc. I understand there are things in water we here in the US are not used to, so I want to not have stomach issues on my trip. I plan on just using the spigots to fill up my bottle as I go. Should make things easier. Hope that helps! Have fun!

I've been to Italy many times; including the cities you mentioned, and drank the water from the tap and from public spigots without any consequences whatsoever.

I've been to Italy many times; including the cities you mentioned, and drank the water from the tap and from public spigots without any consequences whatsoever.

Anthony & Heather, I've never had any problems with the water in Italy, either in the Hotels or from public fountains. IMHO, a Katadyn filtered water bottle would be a waste of money! Italy is a modern country with strict standards for drinking water, not a "third world" country. There is one caveat to mention concerning public fountains. It's important to watch for a sign that states "Aqua Non Potabile". This indicates that the water is not approved for human consumption. If the signs indicates "Aqua Potabile", then the water will be acceptable. Italians tend to prefer bottled water, either "Naturale" or "Gassata" (carbonated), but I've heard that the government is trying to change the thinking on that point as there are a LOT of plastic bottles ending up in landfills. When dining in restaurants, bottled water is usually the only choice you'll have. I normally buy a half-litre (or sometimes larger) bottle when I first land in Europe, and then just keep refilling it until it wears out, or until I'm ready to board my flight home (whichever comes first). Should you be travelling to the Greek Islands, the situation is different. However, bottled water is readily available on the islands. Happy travels!

I refilled my bottle of water in fountains in Rome all the time last summer, and didn't have any stomach issues. If you are worried, start slowly over the first few days to see if it affects you at all before drinking a lot from the fountains, but you should be okay.

The water in Rome is GREAT - and there are multiple nasoni and fountains to drink from. Check out this post with maps and pictures! You'll save a ton of money on a hot day using the nasoni.

The water spigots are fine to drink from. I've gotten a couple where the water tasted a little funny but just used the next one I came to. You can also find a grocery store and grab a twelve pack/case or whatever and drink from that. Not much more expensive than in the US.

Hi Anthony: just as everyone has said, the water is prefectly fine to drink. And finding a fountain that is drinkable is the perfect spot to fill up a bottle (and also a perfect photo op!). One side note though: when we were in Rome for a month last year, we took extra precautions and boiled the water before we filled out bottles with it (we had an apartment and therefore had a kitchen with stove). The next day, there was a chalky white residue left in the bottom of the pot. We thought it was the pot, but then we looked in the tea kettle and in the bottom of our water bottles and saw the same white residue. Needless to say, we jumped on the internet to find antidotes for various chemical poisonings :-) but a local friend of ours told us that it's calcium deposits. Whenever certain tap water sits for a long period of time, the calcium eventually settles out. No big deal at all, but for those of who are not use to extra calcium or may have a pre-existing condition (like my sister who already has hypercalicemia), it could over the course of a very long time lead to kidney stones. I am not sure if that applies to certain areas in the city and I am no expert - just know what I was told. But I thought I would just throw that out there even though it will have nothing to do with 99.9% of the people on this site.

Thank you all sooo much for all of the responses. And yes I agree! Steve would never lie. The Community here is wonderful and Rick and his staff should be commended for providing such a wonderful resource for us "nervous nellies". Warmest Regards to you all, Tony in St. Louis

Tony, Hopefully your weather has improved in St. Louis over the last few days. I recall an item on the news a few days ago about a tornado that touched down at the airport and did quite a bit of damage to one of the terminals. Cheers!

Stereotypes die hard about the water in Western Europe, their water is cleaner and better treated than ours here in the good old US of A. I have been many times and never have had any problems.

Well all I can say is I'm from Philly and we are sadly not the most environmental people, at least from my personal experience of 30 yrs living here and I drank spigot and tap and aqua del rubinetto here, everywhere else in the USA, London, Paris, Rome, Venice and Germany and it was fine!! Please do not buy a bottle that cleans your water, seriously, it's ITALY, not some 3rd world country you never HEARD of!!!

Calcium - its called hard water. Its because in its millions of years from clouds to you it travels through rocks. If you have only had soft water it can be a surprise. I don't know how hard the water is in various cities in the US but very few European cities in my experience have soft water. If you do get it the water has often been treated with salt. Anybody use Calgon? (look at the name - Cal (calcium) gone )

I just got back from a two week vacation in Italy. The water is not only free from the fountains, it taste delicious. As the other posts mention, look for the 'non potable' sign. As a side note, for some strange reason Italians don't drink acqua del rubinetto (tap water), but that didn't stop me from asking at all restaurants and cafes anyway. However, you may get a strange a look or actually be forced to order minerale or fizzante (mineral or fizzy).

Meridith, Just don't ask for Aqua del Gabinetto or you'll get an even stranger look. It may sound unlikely, but I've heard of it happening.

The best thing about the water from the public fountains is that even on a really hot day, the water is cold.

While in Amalfi on a very warm day, we stopped to rest. There was a fountain with running water. Crisp, clear and cold. What a treat.