Asklemmy

Im from Newfoundland Canada. The city I live in has a water treatment facility and the tap water is perfectly fine to drink without any filtering or boiling.

Many smaller towns in my province only have natural water sources (lakes/ponds/streams) or wells for their water supply. The town I grew up in was like that up till about 2005-2006ish. It was pretty rare for us to have to boil water though, maybe 3 weeks out of the whole year, a neighboring town with a different water supply had to boil their water for most of the year so there was alot of variability.

Australian here, never met anyone who boils tap water before drinking it. Some people have filtered water taps installed but our tap water is usually pretty great, I drink probably 2-3 litres of it a day

No, I never drank unfiltered tap water. I have always lived in areas with poor-tasting tap water. It's not necessarily dangerous, but has a high calcium content and isn't the cleanest either.

As a kid, we had a carbon filter on our refrigerator, and that was good enough. When I moved out of my parents house, I started getting those 5 gallon bottles and would refill them at the grocery store.

I eventually got my own refrigerator that had a carbon filter, but I couldn't really go back to a carbon filter once I got used to water filtered by a RO system. It just didn't taste very good. So about a month ago I installed a RO filter under my sink, and now I don't need to drag my bottles to the store anymore. Best of both worlds!

I'm from Chile and we drink tap water without boiling. Some people buy filtered water because they dont like the taste, not because is unsafe.

It shocked me when I visited Peru and Mexico and realized that tap water is not safe there.

Moscow, Russia. You can usually drink tap water in Moscow, but it's something unusually good for Russian bigger cities in general, and it's considered a good thing to boil it. Actually depends on local specifics and where the water comes from.

Canada here - I drink water straight from the tap.

Although Canadian tap water is some of the highest quality tap water in the world.

This is crazy - for sure, in many countries it can be taken straight from the tap depending on the reliability of infrastructure... but to waste energy boiling it??? No thanks.

In England, I moved a few times - some places have great tasting water - others not so great - meaning it's always safe (and ok for brewing or cooking) but not so good for drinking from the tap.

In Scotland (a couple of places I stayed and worked) it's a toss up whether you should drink the tapwater, or go to your local and take another dram from the top row.. those Single Malt Whiskeys made with water from Scotland are amazing... but both are safe in moderation.

In Bangkok, if I don't clean my shower out monthly, it ends up with brown gunge building up, so I certainly don't drink the stuff... and it's hard to know how clean it is (though we're told it's certainly drinkable at source, it has a long way to come to my house - and the pressure of the system is low... another red flag). Visiting tropical islands, you see some resorts are connected via long plastic pipes which are often on the surface (in the sun) and so definitely not the best candidate for anything more than a shower.

In Bangkok too, unless you can test it yourself you shouldn't drink it - but I fail to see why you'd decide to boil dirty water and drink it, seeing as most countries with inadequate tap water have drinking water.

I wouldn't use 'boiled tap water' to make my pasta either.

I have six large bottles which gets topped up each week, to make sure I have plenty of water to cook and drink with... If I didn't, then I'd invest in a good water filtration system.

Canada - Many people here put water in the fridge or a britta jug to get rid of the chlorine taste

In France tap water is drinkable and good almost anywhere, the exceptions being in some cities during drought or due to unusual pollution. I actually dislike most mineral bottled water because I find it tastes like something.

I used to live in Thailand, while the authorities say the water is good you'll likely get sick if you drink water straight from the tap. I used to buy my water from a filtering machine near my condo.

One thing about tap water in the USA is that, while you can drink it, water taste varies a lot.

For instance, in the Southwest USA, it is very common for bottled water to be sold in gallons. There are even small stores whose main purpose is to filter tap water to remove minerals.

You also have the use of non-potable "grey" water that is treated sewage water that gets used for irrigation. You'll usually see signs to not drink that water.

Here is Jamaica it is safe to drink the tap water without boiling.

I live in the US in a location where the tap water is safe to drink (not always the case, e.g., Flint Michigan) but I still filter it for the taste (chlorine in the water).

Most municipal water is safe to drink in the US. Ground water depends entirely on where you live and many situational factors (City pollution, water level, etc.).

We will get boil notices from time to time when a contaminant is detected in the water supply. But that's been rare in my experience, after living in several regions in the US.

No one should ever use tap water for netty potting without boiling it though! You can contract a brain-eating amoeba if you don't boil, which has over 97% death rate.

Hello Mr Hong Kongnese. I'm a Brit. We don't boil water here and I've visisted Iceland - they don't boil it either.

Diu gau lan tsat hai - Merry Christmas. Enjoy your holiday.

Your examples, yes, but I also dont know of any European country where you need to boil the water you drink.

Asian that’s moved to the U.K. here.

Back home, when I grew up I’ve never drank tap water. In my college days I was way too lazy and started just drinking it with a cheap filter. Surprisingly I survived for 5 years despite everyone around me telling me otherwise.

Now in the U.K. I’ve always drank straight from the tap. It’s surprisingly refreshing! And the boiled water taste I can’t really get used to again when I visit home.

The water in Iceland is safe to drink from the tap. Although if I recall correctly it’s pretty sulfuric due to the local hot springs.

I’ve visited a few countries around Europe and have always enjoyed sampling their local tap.

At home I exclusively drink tap water. I only boil it for tea sometimes :) I‘m from Germany.

Spanish here. I drink tap water, but I have a filter installed in the faucet, otherwise it tastes a bit funny (it is drinkable though).

India here. I can drink tap water without boiling, it just has a slight chlorinated taste. That's why we prefer to filter it, rather than boil.

Damn that sounds so time consuming. In most of the US where I'm from, water is treated really well and can just be drank straight from tap safely. I put my water in a brita to filter it so it's a bit more pure, and it also tastes better. Some nicer fridges with have a water filter in the front door, so you just press your glass against it and it fills it with perfect water. Also they usually have a button to dispense ice cubes. I never realized how nice I have it compared to the rest of the world lol.

Austria, yes, water is fine like that I would even drink it in the shower without issue. What is an issue is this habit once made for a bad time in Egypt where I didn‘t drink tap water (I was warned), but I mindlessly used it for brushing teeth and that probably ruined my last few days there.

Depends on how acclimated your stomach is. Locals may be able to drink without problem but foreigners may have stomach problems.

no and no. The tap where I live taste nasy, i think its safe to drink but its not very good so I dont use it.

Irish person here. Yes, I drink my tap water without boiling. My water comes from a well as I live in a rural area, but town/city water is drinkable too.