Support NeoGAF

[Hanmik]

So I have been traveling a bit around Europe in my years. And man, how the fuck can you guys live with the water in some of those countries..?

I was in France (Paris) last summer. The water was full of chlorine and other stuff, it smelled strange and was not drinkable.
I was in Spain last week (near Barcelona). The water smelled strange, and if you happened to get it in your mouth, you felt like someone was trying to poison you.
Poland, Italy and other countries I have visited are just like that.
You have to buy bottled water in most countries if you do not want to experience stomach problems, and want water that tastes good.

I am danish, but live in the Faroe Islands... I am 41 years old, and have lived here since I was 22. I used to think the water was fine in Denmark when I lived there, but every time I visit now, the water is not that great. It tastes ok, but it is full of calcium.

And it isn't just the taste... even when you take a shower or wash your hair, the quality of the water becomes apparent. The hair gets dry and it's hard to brush and make a decent hairstyle happening, it almost feels like it doesn't get clean at all.

I also was in Norway last week, and the water there was great. Tasted good and no problems with showering or anything.

Up here in the Faroe Islands we just drink water from the tap, it tastes fantastic and it is always (ok sometimes some pollution happens, but is fixed in days) clean and not dangerous. The water tastes better than most bottled water I have tasted while I was traveling. And when I take a shower, I feel clean afterwards and the hair feels light and just perfect.

I may just be old and stupid... but damn it must be strange to live in a country where you can't drink water unless it is bottled.

So I was just wondering, is it all about "not knowing" how much better the water is elsewhere (because you were born there and got used to it), and because of that you feel your water is fine? Or do you guys not like the tap water in your country? Can local people even drink the water from the tap?

 

[BeeDog]

Tap water here in Stockholm, Sweden is absolutely excellent, glad it's working well in Scandinavia in general. But yes, many of the mainland European countries have terrible tap water.

It's endemic to many countries and they just don't seem to give a shit about improving the situation. If it's because many European cities are very old and rewiring the water network is too tough, I don't know. I guess the habit of selling bottled water is too hard to break.

 

[Dougald]

Sounds like (especially when you talk about your hair in the shower), you are used to an area with soft water

Hard water is a pain in the arse, I drink tap water all the time (southern England), but when I go to say, Scotland for a while and then come back down south it's like I'm drinking a glass of chalk. It's still perfectly drinkable though

 

[hat_hair]

I don't really know how good UK water is, but I'm normally boiling it anyway.

 

[Kevtones]

Fuck and I thought California water tasted like dog butt. Irish water was okay when I went. Japanese water was weirdly efficient though and someone cleaned off the water fountain when I finished.

 

[MrHoot]

Tap water in switzerland is for the most part irreproachable. But we do have very good sources of natural water around here, as well as high quality of life in general.

But yeah, it is a worry everytime i go abroad: is the tap water drinkable or not. Right now in germany (berlin) and most of it tastes really bad. Even bottled water has a weird taste.

 

[beato_angelico]

The water in the faroe islans is more pure than almost everywhere? I'm shocked, shocked I say.

 

[shagia]

north californian here and somehow my mom is completely okay with the tap water

 

[Moosichu]

Bottled Water is such a waste of resources tho. But yeah, even if water tastes bad, doesn't necessarily mean it's unhealthy.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Ohio tap water is exceptional. Michigan's is good as well.

Florida's on the other hand...never even once.

 

[Prime crotch]

Tap water's fine, it's just some areas have it taste very differently from what you're used to, I hated London's tap water for example, too much calcium or wahtererv.

 

[Rootbeer]

I spent most of my time in Missouri and moved to San Francisco about 10 years ago. I noticed a real difference in the taste of the water. Come to find out, we have some of the best water in the world here:

http://archives.sfexaminer.com/sanf...nest-in-world-report-says/Content?oid=2129349

I now feel very spoiled. It's terrible the condition of the drinking water in many other parts of the world. I really had no idea that it was such a widespead issue in many parts of Europe, though.

 

[fabricated backlash]

Luckily Vienna has amazing tap water.

 

[makingmusic476]

New Orleans tap water is pretty awesome.

 

[Lulu23]

I was also in Norway last week and while I have to say I didn't notice a difference between the tap water there and the water here in Bremen (Germany) it was absolutely amazing to fill up my water bottle from little creeks or waterfalls in the mountains, freshest shit I ever tasted.

 

[electricshake]

I live in Scotland so it's nice and soft. Don't really like the taste of bottled water.

 

[Greddleok]

It's a matter of what you're used to, different levels of solutes and microbiota affect the taste.

I wouldn't recommend drinking tap water when you're on holiday. It's just asking to get the shits.

 

[MicH]

I used to live in a fairly small town near Esbjerg in Denmark. The tap water was freaking amazing and there was hardly any calcium in it. It tasted sooo good. I've since moved to Copenhagen and the water is so full of calcium. My shower head is constantly blocked by it and the water doesn't taste good

 

[WhiskeyDiver]

north californian here and somehow my mom is completely okay with the tap water

North Cali Yuba County here. The water tastes fine. The constant desire to fulfill the wishes of the ancient Illuminati society has nothing to do with the contents of the water.

 

[DoubleYou]

Tap water in the Netherlands is the best thing ever. Tastes exactly like bottled water.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Water down here in Missouri is pretty nice overall

 

[Ethelwulf]

I was in Spain last week (near Barcelona). The water smelled strange, and if you happened to get it in your mouth, you felt like someone was trying to poison you.

...

Can local people even drink the water from the tap?

You are spot on OP. Here in Barcelona tap water is absolutely disgusting. Full of minerals. I'm not even sure if it's healthy to drink. Here is really common to buy bottled water. I buy 12 liter bottles every now and then.

 

[klonere]

Been drinking fluoridated Irish tap water all my life and am still alive and not a brainwashed autism riddled mindslave or whatever the theory around that is.

 

[Neol]

Live in NY and I'm super spoiled with our quality tap water.

Anywhere else I just get bottled water because I know I'm gonna complain about the difference.

 

[tlstls]

When I visited Europe I hated everything about their water (London, Paris and Roma), even the bottled water...

Maybe I'm used to my city's water... but it's not that great since the drought... too much chlorine.

 

[d00d3n]

The tap water here in northern Sweden is excellent.

 

[Rawr Its Ry]

Here in Hawaii the tap water is clean and nice

 

[Sendou]

The tap water here (capital area, Finland) is so good that if you buy bottled you are a brute.

 

[WaterAstro]

I filter and boil my water for drinking. I never drink straight out of a tap.

Also, my city doesn't add fluoride to the water source, unlike practically all of America.

 

[nkarafo]

In Athens Greece, tap water is supposed to be good quality. It's pretty hard to tell the difference in taste between it and bottled water.

However, in some other towns or villages it's like poison. The place where i spend my vacation is the worst, you can see the water being non-transparent white because of the chemicals they use to make it drinkable.

The chemicals fade away while in the glass and it sounds like you just opened a coca cola with all the tiny bubbles bursting as it slowly clears up.

 

[intheinbetween]

I was in Spain last week (near Barcelona). The water smelled strange, and if you happened to get it in your mouth, you felt like someone was trying to poison you.

Well, here in Spain tap water from cities in the east coast tastes horrible. However tap water from Madrid is quite good, it tastes very good, you don't need to buy bottled water from the supermarket.

My SO is italian, she is used to buy bottled water (sparkling and still) not only because she spent her first years in Spain in an eastern city (Valencia), but because tap water in Italy isn't good either.

 

[Dougald]

When I visited Europe I hated everything about their water (London, Paris and Roma), even the bottled water...

Maybe I'm used to my city's water... but it's not that great since the drought... too much chlorine.

The water in London is perfectly safe to drink, but it's so hard it could probably shatter diamonds. All chalk/limestone with a bit of water added to taste

 

[Contica]

It's very good in Norway, but I get my water from a stream near the house. Best water I have ever tasted. No matter where I should go, or what bottled brand I should drink, it tastes horrible in comparison.

 

[moggio]

The water in London is perfectly safe to drink, but it's so hard it could probably shatter diamonds. All chalk/limestone with a bit of water added to taste

Cheap mineral water.

Idiots pay a high price for that sort of thing in bottles.

 

[SuperEpicMan]

I live near Newcastle and find the water pretty good compared to other places I have been. When I have visited London, I find the water there makes my showers take like 3 times longer, as it makes it harder to wash the soap out of my hair.

 

[Maximo]

Sydney water seems fine drink 4L+ a day.

 

[SigSig]

Where I live, the tap water is essentially the same as the bottled water. I'm ashamed thinking back on how much money I've wasted on bottled water.

 

[DigitalRicket]

Live in Vegas here and we drink from the tap using some filtered pitcher. Tastes great. No smell. Between my wife and I, we drink about a pitcher and a half per day when we're home.

 

[Alcotholic]

Yep. NYC tap water is pretty amazing.
I was kinda blown away when I moved here.

 

[Airan]

Went to Seattle for PAX, the tap water is probably 70% chlorine. My god did it taste bad.
Then went to Vancouver later. The tap water there was super clean in comparison. Yo Vancouver you and Seattle are only hours apart, you should share some of that ice water!

 

[TatteredHat]

My water isn't disgusting tho.

 

[Dougald]

Cheap mineral water.

Idiots pay a high price for that sort of thing in bottles.

Peckham Spring?

 

[neorej]

In The Netherlands, we have excellent tap water. We also have weed, shrooms,beer and drop. You should try it sometime

 

[Octavianus]

Dutch tap water is pretty much the only thing I drink these days.

 

[SlipperyFishes]

Water here on the south coast of England is hard as hell and I Brita filter all of it.

 

[moggio]

Peckham Spring?

It's-gotta-be-tried.

 

[Shy]

You guys need to get into Artisanal water. 😝 😜

 

[Funky Papa]

You are spot on OP. Here in Barcelona tap water is absolutely disgusting. Full of minerals. I'm not even sure if it's healthy to drink. Here is really common to buy bottled water. I buy 12 liter bottles every now and then.

Barcelona's tap water tastes terrible (something common across the Mediterranean coastline; Galicia's is fantastic in comparison), but it's perfectly safe to drink. Bottled water is a total scam and considerably less safe since its subject to less regulations, leading to things such as thousands of people being poisoned with nasty noroviruses.

If you live in a developed country and buy bottled water because you think it's safer (I'm not touching thigs such as taste and the folks with some severe renal issues), you are being conned big time.

 

[SgtCobra]

Dutch tap water has to be the best water I've ever drunk, no bottled water comes close.

 

[OnkelC]

tap water is the most intensive and extensive controlled food item in Germany, the rules and regulations are even stricter than for milk. Still, some taste good, some taste bland.