- cross-posted to:
- buyeuropean@feddit.uk
- BuyFromEU
- cross-posted to:
- buyeuropean@feddit.uk
- BuyFromEU
cross-posted from: https://europe.pub/post/47526
Absolutely not something to be given for granted.
Shoutout to u/UnusualInstance6 on Reddit
You must log in or register to comment.
I’ve never lived in a place where the water isn’t drinkable, but I’ve seldom drank from the tap without filtration. Water is so vital to us, it just seems wise to be careful.
Keep in mind that more surface area usually means more bacteria. Afaik there’s is nothing wrong with the usual changable filters (although there are a few horrid ones).
But many private households tend to underestimate how dirty these things get, even after a short time.
Since water supplied by the municipality is usually fine and most bad stuff happens as a last-mile problem, I shower in the morning (which I have to do anyway, but it also flushes most pipes) and then wash out a large stainless steel beaker before filling it up and drinking from it for most of the day.
I prefer tea.
In some EU countries it’s pretty bad tasting though. Too much chlorine for me to really get used to.
Yeah. I’ll drink tap water if I need to, but I’m not such a huge fan of limestone. I know it’s not bad for me and in sane amounts it doesn’t affect the flavour too much, but my tap water has way too much.
I’ve lived in other cities in the same country where water tasted way better. So it’s not that I’ve ruined my taste buds by drinking copious amounts of carbonated mineral water, it’s that in the particular city I live, every apartment has had kinda shit tap water. Of course it’s all city water.
My friend’s parents’ home has tap water that comes from a spring on their own property. It has a lot of iron and that water tastes pretty damn good. My own childhood home has a well that the pump lifts water from. It’s not excellent, but it’s still better than the tap water in my current city.
Chlorine is kinda fragile, you can boil it or use uv (sunlight) to break it down. I find Melbourne water tastes bleachy from the tap.
You guys drink donuts?
…you don’t?
You don’t just stab a straw into a creme filled doughnut to slurp out all the creme?
I’ve found it easier to just stab the original carton
Nestlé:
Better for your teef as well.
The amount of bottled water in the EU is insane, lol. I’d always Google it just to be sure, but the tap water is always drinkable, so I try to do that instead of buying a ton of bottles (or getting them at restaurants. I wish parts of the EU had more water fountains and refill stations for metal water bottles.
I’m guessing it’s more of a cultural thing from the postwar reconstruction?
The reason behind bottled water is a mixture of bad taste, hardness and lack of trust for watter supply (age related thing). Hence why additional filters have become somewhat popular (from small bottles with built-in filters that you fill on the go up to large separate installations that filter water for entire house). Everything depends on type of water available in certain areas. Cities by the mountains are the best in that aspect as they are often supplied with water directly from the mountains.
It’s not always drinkable, especially not as a tourist.
I wouldn’t drink tap water in Crete for instance
I mean, the rules are always a bit different for islands.
Just an example, there’s plenty other instances of towns and areas.
Officially tap water in Malta is drinkable but somehow several hotels I visited have instructed not to drink tap water and office I used had water filters installed on tap.
There is problems in EU countries too so I would not always trust the official declaration especially when country has higher level corruption - example like Malta.
It’s because aside from a few countries, everyone puts chlorine in their water. It stinks and tastes awefull
Well, depends on either your definition of “drinkable” or “all” :D
I mean, you will find at least one spot in every EU country with drinkable tap water
Tap water decreases your microplastic exposure by 90%.
You still can find glass bottle to avoid drinking plastics. Bottled water usually have less PFAS but it is variable and depends where you live.
This is false: Water in glass bottles often contains more microplastics than water from plastic bottles, likely due to cleaning agents.
Source (in german) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/lemi.202352256
I reuse tequila bottles to store tap water, which I leave in the sun, for the uv to break down the chlorine.
Glass absorbs UV light, it’s pointless
Other light does damage too. You can see it on materials at which sun shines through a window.
Fr?
Compared to bottled water, oh yeah. Here’s some articles from various places:
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/plastic-particles-bottled-water
https://time.com/6553165/microplastics-in-bottled-water-study/
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223730333/bottled-water-plastic-microplastic-nanoplastic-study
I just took some I recognised as “ok” sources, but there are thousands of articles about it elsewhere too.
Wow, that is awesome! And actually some good news for once. Thanks for the info.
deleted by creator
Germany: Takes third option and buys bottled water. Part of the reason is that carbonated water is really popular, and home carbonators are usually kind of difficult/annoying to clean properly. Also, restaurants often won’t serve tap water due to greed.
It’s a generational thing, too, though. At my parents’ place, they’ll look at me like I lost a limb when I drink tap water. Meanwhile, all the homies and homettes drink nothing but tap water.
I’ll never understand countries where restaurants don’t serve tap water for free… It feels so greedy (as you say) and doesn’t make me want to eat there…
It was a big struggle for me in germany. I have a condition that makes swallowing food very difficult and have to essentially “push” food down with a lot of water.
I would easily need to buy 2-3 .75l bottles per meal, so instead I bought 1 bottle and brought a reusable water bottle to every restaurant. No one complained, and I did always buy at least a drink.
But if you just let me have tap water, or even have tap water after purchasing a drink I could have enjoyed a meal without rationing my water.
Most restaurants will serve you tap water if you buy a meal and a drink.
I mean I’ll happily pay for tapwater, as long as it is chraper than the cheapest other beverage. Thats because many (good) restaurants (not the tourist traps) mostly make their profit with the drinks and not with the food menues. The margin is just a lot bigger on drinks.
The biggest brand of home carbonators (Soda Stream) is an Israeli brand. Just something to think about.
I drink Sprudelwasser with dinner and the rest of the day it’s just tap water. We live in an incredibly hard water area so tap water is basically mineral water.
When you drink hard water, are you getting stoned? 😏
You do have to ve mindful of kidney stones, so in a way, yes.
I never order tap water but I thought, restaurants have to give it for free?
Not in Germany they don’t! They can and will refuse to serve it at all. And the cheapest drink on the menu is often sweet soda, instead of something healthy.
I knew a guy back in the days who always ordered “Hahnenwasser” as he called it and it was free. Maybe this changed or it’s regional. I know the cheapest drink has to be without alcohol and I’m pretty sure water is never more expensive than soda
Hahnenwasser literally means tap water. The tap is called “Hahn”.
I’ve never been to Germany but this has to be affordable there if its affordable anywhere in the world:
Get a clean keg, fill almost all the way with water, put in the fridge and connect to co2 cylinder at 35-50 psi. 35 will take 1-2 days to carbonate and you can turn it down for serving. higher will usually be faster. shaking the water keg with the co2 attached can have it done in a minute or two. basically if you can already dispense a keg you can make infinite carbonated water for pretty much nothing
you can also get bags of mineral amendments from a brewing shop to replicate your favourite brand or spring.
Your fridge fits an entire keg?
one of them is a somewhat normal residential fridge and can fit a 20L on the left side if you take out the drawers and shelves on that side. The other is just a kegerator I got from a small brewery that went out of business and just replaced the lines and the taps.
Your fridge has a “left side” with separate drawers from the right side? That’s gigantic.
no the shelves are normal except they are half width and anchor on 3 of 4 corners. the drawers and shelves can be side by side, stacked, or spaced out. one side has all the shelves, the other just barely can’t have a shelf above the keg. total width would fit two kegs, maybe with the co2 nested between but it’s more convenient to put other stuff in using shelves on half
How wide is your fridge? I have 48cm (on the inside) to work with.
If only these idiots could stop making plastic bottles. Fucking earth murderers.
As a EU citizen I always buy my water bottled instead of from the tap, not only does it taste better… but my family used to have a water distiller when I was growing up and we sometimes put tap water inside of it and after the distilling process the residue left was disgusting and gooey, even with some rust laced in (this was in the Côte d’Azur for context) in comparison most good quality bottled water just left a trace mineral residue. Safe to say I’d rather drink mineral residue over rust!
Rust is completely fine.
Yo, that water come in plastic bottles? You know the plastic leaches forever chemicals into the water. Also, you’ve created a few tonnes of plastic waste by drinking water this way. So well done you.
Fun fact: iron oxide is food safe. It’s being used to make glittery drinks.
What european water filter do you guys use for tap water ?
I personally use Brita, which is from Germany (and not Britain or Brittany)
None. Most of these plasticky filters are bullshit.
Aquafloow is a cheaper knockoff that fits Brita jugs.
None. I live in Austria and you can drink the tap water without any additional filters.
I’m Canadian. I drink unfiltered tap water my whole life.
Same in France but filters remove the chlorine taste
Austria is in a pretty privileged situation here. There is almost no chlorine added to the water. Because of the alps we have a lot of fresh drinking water sources.
Brita is the most popular here as well. I have a water jug from them. While the tap water is perfectly drinkable here I like to filter the water I use for tea and coffee. The tea tastes better and the coffee machine gets less limescale.
Also worth mentioning BWT (Austrian brand) home filtering systems and water filter manufacturers. My sister has on of them fancy kitchen taps with built-in filtered water option and it uses a big BWT filter.
Are you American? Who needs filters for tap water?
Some European tap water is disgusting, I’m sorry to inform you
Filters can get rid of unwanted minerals and some machines like espresso machines require cleanest water. I have some of the best tasting drinking water in the world, almost iceland level but it has high limestone content and I need to filter it twice for my espresso machine.
When I lived in Warsaw tap water tasted like public swimming pool water after boiling old shoe for an hour.
Can confirm, left out some prepositions, must be Slavic
No need to resolve to anti-americanism, water is fine where I live, it just tastes better with a filter
Why would you filter it?
My tap water is hard af and filtering helps with that. Also tastes slightly better and doesn’t leave limescale stains after being filtered.
Limescale is magnesium and calcium… Hard tapwater is the best water for you.
For your washing machine, clothes, kitchenware though, not so great…
Here’s the solution: use clear vinegar instead of fabric softener. It won’t stink once it’s dry. Promise.
You really shouldn’t use fabric softener for things intended to absorb and transfer moisture at some point anyway (So almost all laundry). It is terrible for the moisture wicking abilities of fabrics.
I like using Brita, but having to buy non-sustainable single-use filters is a serious buzzkill. Yet, since I rent, I can’t install one of those fancy tap-level filters either…
Sure you can. You just have to restore the original condition when you move out.
I use some rando german filters that fit my fridge, that I found online.
No need for that in Germany…
Using it wrong or too long can make things way worse.
Heavily depends on where you live in Germany. It should be healthy (by law) and fairly tasty to drink everywhere in theorie, but in reality it is not. Especially depending on the landlord, old pipes can make drinking water range from tasting bad to being unhealthy. Yes, that is against the law, but landlords abusing the shit out of their position of power happens everywhere and a lot more than many probably realize.
Dafi. Polish company.
… Filter?
I don’t need to use a filter, but I do keep a jug of filtered water in the fridge for the summer when I want a nice pre-chilled drink. I, too, use Brita.
I wonder if it does anything for microplastics?
Not feasible to drink tap water in every EU country though.
Even worse, it’s not caffeinated in any EU country.
LPT if you are getting “coffee” every day at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, a cheap home expresso machine will pay itself in a month. As a bonus you have the option of using actual coffee.
Making things at home will almost always be cheaper but ignores the rituals embedded into capitalism.
That cup of coffee you make at home before you leave does not possess the same psychological comfort as the one you have at the end of your commute just before walking into the office.
Our brain is wired to want specific inputs at specific times in relation to our environment and i sometimes feel like the entire work commute culture is designed to exploit it.
Going somewhere after work to blow of steam has the same vibe. Nothing wrong with that on permis but the opportunity to get you to spend is well understood in business.
That cup of coffee you make at home before you leave does not possess the same psychological comfort as the one you have at the end of your commute just before walking into the office.
You can put it into a thermal flask at home and then drink it whenever your feelings require.
Our brain is wired to want specific inputs at specific times
Who’s doing the wiring? 😉
If you ask me a combination of genetic patterns, the dynamic emergent properties of neural networks and a sprinkle of conscious intend to steer our development in time.
That cup of coffee you make at home before you leave does not possess the same psychological comfort as the one you have at the end of your commute just before walking into the office.
I don’t see this point at all?
To me it provides way more comfort to take the time and enjoy a cup of of coffee at home.
I’d need to make a detour to get a way too expensive coffee that tastes worse and then I’d have to drink it while walking through the noisy city.
I see no benefits?
Personally i don’t derive any comfort from coffee i actually really dislike the taste and smell.
My point is that, between the large variety of personal needs and desires, life has in many ways become compartmented in controlled sections. For example a commute but also things like a travel, vacation, lunch-break, post workday, workweek/weekend.
Capitalism directly benefits from perceiving these sections because it simplifies and generalises the consumer patterns. When people are within one of these sections while having similar feelings it becomes an opportunity to sell these people the potential to fill one of the needs that come from these feelings… comfort.
Take people who use public transport to get to work, a strict routine which may include waiting a specific amount of time at a spot every day.
There is also the thing with coffee specifically that if we are really honest and understand caffeine as a drug then it makes sense to have a little performance boost to start the work. As a non coffee drinker its why i crack open an energy drink every 7am.
Caffeinated?!
Probably a joke because the soft drinks it was compared too (in OPs image) contain coffein.
It is. I kinda thought that was obvious.
If you really need caffeine just drink coffee
Or (green or black) tea.
I just take caffeine pills.
Which countries is it not OK in? I don’t ever remember it being a problem anywhere I went. But mostly I stay in Western / Central Europe I guess. Hi from Portugal.
Reminder that you can actually make coca-cola at home
Really? How?
You watch an anime called “Dr.Stone”
Not Op but I watched this yesterday and it probably answered your question:
Cool thanks!
US: 100/100 Score. Looking at you, Flint Michigan :D I don’t know what cherrypicking bullshit they had to do to get that result.
Flint is a very small percentage of the population, so even if everyone in Flint was affected, which they weren’t, it would still be possible to get a 100/100 score. The problem with Flint’s water was highly publicized because of how uncommon it is for water to be unsafe in America.
The legal limit for lead in drinking water in the EU is 10 ug/L. Lots of places in the EU are above that.
Flint, at the height of the crisis, had a median of 3.5 ug/L, but 17% of samples were over 15. Compare that to the study I linked, which shows Vienna having 18% of samples over 25.
yeah. i do not doubt for a second scientists can bullshit up a nice statistic where any country on the planet gets a “100% renewable green sticker well done buddy”. those are smart people.
if it says 100/100 and the US is fracking the shit out of its country something is left out. most likely by design. What we measure becomes our goals, if they say it is 100/100 that means keep doing what you are doing.
e: I can’t imagine italy deservers one either, just to be clear, or the 96 in austria where I live. Lots of wells from people on the countryside are deemed unsfae bacuse of fertilizer pollution
Yale University’s Environmental Performance Index, which tracks 40 performance indicators—including “Sanitation & Drinking Water”—in order to pinpoint the most environmentally friendly countries in the world. Additional performance indicators tracked by the EPI include environmental health, climate change mitigation, air quality, waste management, biodiversity, fishery populations, and more.
Sounds a bit like “stuff in place doing things” rather than actual quality tests. If so a bit of greenwashing seems feasible.
Sounds more like a development index than a quality index.
Two main issues I see here:
- they don’t care if it is tap or bottle
- they rely on hospitals reporting on contaminated water as a cause of medical issues or something
I other words: Only bottled water available, and hospitals don’t report on water contamination issues - > 💯
Which is even wilder. They are acting like agricultural and oil-drilling practices in the US (and elsewhere too) are not degrading the global fresh water base.
This is propaganda.
I have never seen any other country than the USA where you can set tap water on fire.
I definitely dont believe the US is 100%, sounds like they just decided all the lead water was not drinking water so in fact only drinkable water is drinking water.
