A warned person counts for two.
Annoying side effects
Tap water is easy and cheap. You can fill your own bottle and do not have to drag large water bottles to the campsite or hotel. Handy, but you still have to be careful with tap water.
Polluted water can have unpleasant side effects, such as diarrhea and in severe cases hepatitis A, typhoid and even cholera. So watch out! Also be extra careful with brushing your teeth with water from the tap, washing fruits and vegetables and ice cubes in your drink.
Pathogens in tap water
Professor of Water and Health Gertjan Medema has moored before NU.nl from that water can become contaminated with pathogens from sewage or manure.
“A heavy rain shower can flush these pathogens to the drinking water purification system and if the purification is insufficiently designed, they can end up in the drinking water,” says Medema.
Contamination in the tap water
According to him, drinking water distribution networks are often leaky. “If there is no pressure on the grid, pollution from the environment can enter the grid. In the Netherlands, the leakage rate is low, but in Rome, for example, they lose half that way,” he explains.
Tap water tastes different everywhere in European countries
Fortunately, in many southern European countries it is safe to drink tap water. The taste is often different, so you may prefer to drink water from a bottle. In Portugal, for example, there is a lot of iron and lime in the tap water, which influences the taste.
In Spain, Italy and France the water has a bit of a chlorine taste. In Finland and Iceland the water quality is better than in the Netherlands: here the water is purer than bottled mineral water.
Do not drink
As a Dutch tourist it is better not to drink tap water here:
- Albania
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Cyprus
- Belarus
- Bosnia
- Bulgaria
- Herzegovina
- Hungary
- Georgia
- Greek Isles
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Moldavia
- Montenegro
- Romania
- Serbia
- Ukraine
Well drink
Drinking tap water is generally safe in the countries below. Keep in mind that this can differ per city or province.
- Andorra
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Germany
- Finland
- France
- Greece
- Britain
- Iceland
- Italy
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Norway
- Austria
- Poland
- Portugal
- San Marino
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Czech Republic
- Sweden
- Switzerland
Source: NU.nl† Columbus† eatly