Asklemmy

Poland here, tap water is pretty drinkable in cities, not sure about rural areas though, also I personally use Brita filter just to be sure

You can drink the tap water in most places in Iceland without boiling it (especially in Reykjavik), but if you're further into the countryside then I would check first!

In Canada most people drink water after filtering through a Brita, but it's safe to drink without.

Switzerland here,

Yes we absolutely drink tap water here, not only it is well regulated but it may also beat many bottled water in terms of taste..

Yes, living in the US, it's safe to assume that any tap water is safe to drink without boiling. Sometimes it doesn't taste great because of mineral content, but it's safe with very few exceptions.

That's also been the case in any developed country that I have visited, including Iceland, Canada, pretty much all of Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, etc. There may be exceptions in all of those places, but in any large city in a developed country you can drink the tap water.

I'm in the US. I don't know too many people that drink directly from the tap. Almost everyone I know passes the water through a filter first.

Although, technically, I think the water is safe to drink. My city sends little informational cards saying how they've tested the water and it should be good to drink straight from the tap.

I think we in the US scare easy, so I'm guessing Big Water Bottle and Big Filter have brainwashed us into being scared to drink straight from the tap.

Croatia here,

tap water is completely drinkable and safe without any boiling. Exception are some more remote islands, so if you are going on some island, chekc if the tap water is drinkable.

Fun fact: Croatia actually uses drinkable water for toilets as well, altough i would not drink from a toilet :)

From Singapore. Tap water here is potable but we boil it first out of habit. (But I use tap water for drinking when boiled water has run out).

Venice: we filter it first via some cheal filters. It is very common to own a water mug with a filter embedded here.

Paris: directly from the tap water, though I don't like the taste.

in Brazil de usually dont boil, but use a traditonal ceramic pot filter.

US, tap water is perfectly good to drink.

Having visited Iceland a few years ago, Iceland's tap water is the best tasting water I've ever had anywhere. Please take this opportunity to try it while you're 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.

One thing to consider: While tab water in most of the developed world is potable,any water safety guarantees usually end where the house water pipes begin. Depending on the state of the piping, tap water might not be safe, even if the water supplyer says it's safe.

You can get a water test (especially bacteria is important) for relatively cheap. Last time I did such a test it was ~€60. It's not wrong to do one.

Also, the definition of potable water is that the water is potable after the tap has been running for 10(!) minutes.

Bacteria contaminated pipes are pretty common and if the water has been sitting in these biofilm-covered pipes over night or even longer, the water can become pretty harmful. Especially after you get home from a vacation, letting the water run for a decent amount of time might be a good thing.

Also: the worst thing that can happen to your water pipe system are blind pipes, so pipes that are connected only on one end. That could be e.g. left-over plumbing after remodeling or pipes that lead to unused taps. If at all possible, these ahould be removed or flushed at best daily.

Quebec, Canada. I grew up in a rural area where we had our own artesian well on the plot of land, so not attached to any city infrastructure, and no purification process at all, except what is done naturally from the soil. And guess what? It's the purest water I've ever seen, it taste amazingly fresh and the tap is directly plugged on it.

Moved to a big city and now have to use the city infrastructure, which of course have a huge purification plant and they do tests continuously to make sure it pass a high quality threshold. But even if it's probably cleaner than 90% of the rest if the world, it still have a slight unpleasant taste. I could probably buy a filter, but never bothered.

Buying bottled water is seen as wasteful and also a scam since it's often just tap water they bottled. When my family visited a country where bttled water is common, they were disgusted at how much plastic pollution it creates.

I would hate to have to boil water before every usage, I assume you always keep a few gallons in the fridge to keep some cold? It takes space and energy to prepare, must be annoying. But what I wonder the most is, how to do wash yourselves and your clothes? If the water smells foul, doesn't taking a shower just stink you even more than it cleans?

I never drink water out of the tap because I prefer to filter it first. It’s safe to drink but I want it clean and much colder so into a filter pitcher and put that in the fridge

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!

In Argentina, generally you can drink straight from the tap.

In Malaysia, the water is advertised as safe to drink. Large majority however, either boils it or uses their own water filters.

We drink straight from the tap here in Scotland. It's great water.

I'm from Denmark, and water is safe to drink straight from the tap here.

I lived in Taiwan and was taught to boil. I'm starting to think you probably don't need to but we just grew up not knowing any better. In Australia you don't. I drink out of any tap that's not a rain water tap. Lots of Asians here still buy bottled water or boil water out regardless. So it seems to be out of uninformed fear or habit.

My belief is unless a local government/health authority tells you you can't drink straight from the tap. I'm inclined to believe it's safe.

USA: Yes, I drink tap water.