Tap water: In which countries are pathogens lurking and where are they not?

Created: 08/05/2022, 14:04

By: Jasmine Farah

As a child, parents drum it into you that it is better not to drink water from the tap in certain holiday regions.

This is especially true for pregnant women.

In Germany, people are spoiled: In many places, the water is so pure and well treated that you can drink tap water straight from the tap.

You don't have to worry too much about whether it contains pathogenic germs or toxic metals.

The former in particular is also a main reason why many do not dare to drink tap water on vacation.

This is especially true for countries like Egypt, the Dominican Republic or Turkey.

In which holiday countries is it safe to drink water from the tap? 

After all, there are repeated warnings that the tap water from these countries could be contaminated and cause unpleasant symptoms such as diarrhea or vomiting.

The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes 80 percent of all travel illnesses to contaminated drinking water.

The only way to avoid this is to either boil it or get bottled water.

But even if it is not contaminated, it can contain pathogens that do not pose a problem for the locals but cause problems for holidaymakers.

If you want to use water from the tap on holiday, you should find out about it beforehand.

© Maskot/Imago

However, there are holiday resorts where it is perfectly safe to drink water from the tap when you get thirsty.

, you can drink from the tap in these holiday countries

:

• American Virgin Islands

• Aruba

• Australia

  
  
  

  Belgium

• Costa Rica

  
  
  

  Curacao

• Denmark

• Germany

  
  
  

  Estonia

• Finland

• France

• Greece

  
  
  

  UK

• Greenland

• Guadeloupe

• Ireland

• Iceland

• Israel

• Italy

• Japan

• Canada

• Croatia

• Liechtenstein

• Luxembourg

• Martinique

• Monaco

• New Caledonia

• New Zealand

• Netherlands

• Norway

• Austria

• Portugal

• Puerto Rico

• La Reunion

• San Marino

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Singapore

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Spain

• South Korea

• Czech Republic

• Hungary

• United States

• United Arab Emirates

Drink water from the tap: full of chlorine in some countries

However, there are also some countries on the list whose drinking water is safe but should still be consumed with caution.

These include the USA, Belgium and Portugal.

The tap water is drinkable there, but many holidaymakers complain about a strange taste.

This is because the tap water there is chlorinated.

In principle, it is therefore more advisable, especially for pregnant women, breastfeeding women and older people, to consume bottled water in these countries as well.

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