Drinking water from the Tap

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simsnet

Community Member
Jul 29, 2006
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Drinking water from the Tap

In italy you should never drink water from the tap. Always purchase water from your local supermarket. This does depend on which part of Italy you live in but to be safe always drink bottled water. In lombardia (Mantova) the water is very bad. we have to use bottled water even to cook the pasta.
 
So its a bit like spain then. There are filter machines that you can buy. The water is not that great here in the UK too. I have a small plastic tank that has a filter on the top. You just need to change the filter every month. How much does bottled water cost?

Regards

Danny
 
Water does not cost that much i admit but when you add it all up over a period of a year then im suprised how much we spend.

Our problem is that like many villas in italy. we do not have direct water supply. We have a pump that gets the water from the deep underground. it then gets filtered put through another filter (With salt) and then into the house. The filters do a good job but the colour of the water which you can only see when in you fill the bath tub is yellow.

Our landlord had the local health people come round to take samples of the water and they say its ok to cook with. However to me yellow water is not ok to cook with and certainly not drink.

We buy cheap bottled water to cook with (13 cents for 2 litres) and a better brand to drink.

Its not just our house that has this coloured water the hole region of lombardia, emilia romagna is like it unless your in the mountains. even if you have a direct water supplier its a little better but the water is still yellow.
 
You can cook with the water in puglia (Taranto) im sure you could drink it too. i like my frizzy water though.
 
Don't Drink The Water? .... Dont Be Daft!

simsnet said:
In italy you should never drink water from the tap. Always purchase water from your local supermarket. This does depend on which part of Italy you live in but to be safe always drink bottled water. In lombardia (Mantova) the water is very bad. we have to use bottled water even to cook the pasta.
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Rubbish! .. I'm sorry to be so forceful about this topic, but it makes my blood boil when people make such sweeping statements about foreign food and drink etc, even if it is with the best intentions.

Are you suggesting that ALL Italians drink only bottled water, and what is your definition of bad? current EU standards dictate that all potable water be of a minimum standard and suitable for purpose. I'm sure you are aware that the 'taste' of the water will differ from region to region, indeed from country to country also, depending not least on, (a) the minerals and pipework in the ground through which it passes en route to the various reservoirs and processing plants, and (b) the chemicals and compounds used in the cleaning and filtering processes (eg carbon, silica, and fluoride) by the water company.

I have been fortunate enough to spend a significant amount of time in Italy (Emilia Romagna) as a child and young adult, and I can testify to the quality of the water I drank. The water to my village came from an underground natural spring pumped directly to the houses and was fed largely by rainwater and snow-melt, it was used for all purposes including human consumption without being pre-boiled, or having chemicals added and the only filtering that took place, was to remove any contamination in the form of visible flora and fauna. Indeed on many occasions I have drunk the water directly from the ground using nothing more than a convenient straw to filter it with. I can say without fear of correction that in all my time in Italy I never once experienced any ill effects due to poor quality water, neither can I remember any such instance in the past history of the village.

Also my village was bounded by two small rivers, Torrente Lubiana and Torrente Arda, both of which were full of fish, freshwater crustaceans, and fresh water mussels (a sure sign of quality), and both of which I have drunk from directly, again without ill effect. My view was that if it's good enough for the locals, then it's good enough for me.

Please don't misunderstand me, as I have also drunk (amongst others) Aqua Minerale bottled water etc etc, and will continue to do so on occasion. However the fact that many Italians choose to drink bottled water is I believe a reflection on taste and/or fashion, and not on the quality of that supplied directly to the home. In the western world in general there has in recent years, been a massive increase in the volume of bottled water sold, especially here in the UK, and across Europe and North America in general. On the basis of your original statement, I presume therefore that you would also advise any foreign visitor to these (so called advanced) countries not to drink their water either! You should I believe qualify your statement by adding something along the lines that; 'any ill effect be the result of the visitor's constitution not being able to acclimatise to the local water supply (which will happen naturally over time)'. This does not however mean that the water is bad, only that the local populace has become acclimatised, after all they have been drinking it for years, and you don't see them queueing outside the doctor's surgery or the Town Hall demanding action to fix the local water supply.

:)

Regards. Peter
Copyright 2007 Oneto15.
 
I use a water filter alot. I hope it is safe that way. I know alot of people use filters. I love water especially when I am being very active.
 
You are using bottled water for cooking?

The water from your country is much worse than in my country. I would admit that we are using bottled water but we never used them for cooking.
 
Water quality seems to be different in all different areas, In our cities it isn't necessarily bad it just tastes off. But if you are happy with bottled thats a solution.
 
I live in Spain at the moment and the tap water is just fine, though when family visit, it has been know to upset their tummies!

If you are not used to a certain locations water, then I would advise you buy bottles, but ultimately there is nothing wrong with tap water.
 
Like in a lot of countries they advise not to drink the tap water but it isnt fatal when ever I am there I cook with it, boil the kettle and clean my teeth!
 
I don't drink tap water anywhere. There's not a country I go to or live in where I drink tap water, not today, not with all the pollutants and contaminants that are around. I buy bottled, which isn't a guarantee either, but I feel better drinking it.
 
We are in Northern Lazio and the water is fine to cook, wash, do you teeth with and drink. It come from a spring to the houses via the metre of course and tastes and looks just fine. The locals do mostly use bottled water to drink but it is mostly for ease of cooling and just what they do. I asked when we bought the place about the water and they said it fine but bottled water is just what we have always have drunk.
 
Re: Drinking water from the Tap

I think its wise to drink filtered water, I always make it sure that every one in the family takes clean water. When we move out we go in for bottled water and that too of a reputed brand.
 
This seems to be the case in a lot of countries, this recommendation. I always end up getting bottled water for convenience and to stay hydrated, anyway, as water fountains are much scarcer in foreign countries than in the States. At home, I drink tap water though.
 
I agree the water from the taps is fine, it is the same in many different european countries as the water does taste different but it is never harmful. Many countries place chemicals into the tap water which is why Italian water tastes different as it has none of these harmful chemicals. Whenever I am there I drink it, brush my teeth and cook with it and have no ill effects.
 
That is interesting, I never would have thought that. I always think of Italy (especially in the south) as a place where people eat and live off the land. I would have assumed the water would have been fine to drink. Thanks for sharing this it is good to know. Constantly buying bottled water must get very expensive.

Do people there buy a lot of water filters instead?
 
Nah, I used to do that. But nowdays I will do that only If I'm 150% sure there's no other way out. It's always a risk, as this water is very dirty everywhere.
 
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