• Wahots@pawb.socialEnglish
    171·
    7 days ago

    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?

    • Evotech@lemmy.worldEnglish
      123·
      7 days ago

      It’s not always drinkable, especially not as a tourist.

      I wouldn’t drink tap water in Crete for instance

    • Bohurt@lemm.eeEnglish
      7·
      7 days ago

      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.

    • Haarukkateroitin@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      7·
      7 days ago

      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.

    • Rob1992@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      7 days ago

      It’s because aside from a few countries, everyone puts chlorine in their water. It stinks and tastes awefull

  • tatann@lemm.eeEnglish
    12·
    7 days ago

    What european water filter do you guys use for tap water ?

    I personally use Brita, which is from Germany (and not Britain or Brittany)

        • wischi@programming.devEnglish
          5·
          6 days ago

          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.

    • Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      7 days ago

      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.

      • Muoteck@szmer.infoEnglish
        9·
        7 days ago

        My tap water is hard af and filtering helps with that. Also tastes slightly better and doesn’t leave limescale stains after being filtered.

        • Renohren@lemmy.todayEnglish
          9·
          7 days ago

          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.

          • eneff@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
            4·
            7 days ago

            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.

      • krf@szmer.infoEnglish
        10·
        7 days ago

        When I lived in Warsaw tap water tasted like public swimming pool water after boiling old shoe for an hour.

      • tatann@lemm.eeEnglish
        92·
        7 days ago

        No need to resolve to anti-americanism, water is fine where I live, it just tastes better with a filter

      • endeavor@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        6·
        7 days ago

        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.

    • Echolynx@lemmy.zipEnglish
      5·
      7 days ago

      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…

        • Echolynx@lemmy.zipEnglish
          2·
          6 days ago

          Technically, but I have no plumbing skills and don’t exactly want to drop $100+ for a sink-type filter that requires a lot more space than I have, anyway.

      • iLStrix@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        6 days ago

        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.

    • IndiBrony@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 days ago

      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?

  • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    92·
    7 days ago

    In some EU countries it’s pretty bad tasting though. Too much chlorine for me to really get used to.

    • digipheonix@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      Most places treat their water with chlorine or chloramine. Way better than having amoebas but if you can afford a filter do so. Different municipalities treat water differently, look yours up or test to see what you need. I went from carbon filters for chloramine to RO after moving somewhere with worse water

      • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        I guess it’s more like most places in some regions.

        • Where I grew up it they get 44% pumped groundwater, and 56% from capped sources in the surrounding hills. The water from the sources is UV light treated to kill any organic contaminants, the ground water didn’t need it.

        • Where I lived during high school it was all ground water filtered in three stages: ozone, activated carbon, and pH rebalancing, because it was close to a major river that leads into the Rhine.

        • Where I live now we get 85% groundwater, and 15% from sources with UV treatment for the sources only again.

        So you can imagine that I’m not used to the taste. Visiting some regions in Italy where they chlorinated their water pretty hard, especially in summer, is always kind of a shock taste wise. Though to be fair I gotta say in Torino where I was last year it was completely fine.

    • boonhet@lemm.eeEnglish
      61·
      6 days ago

      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.

    • dumblederp@aussie.zoneEnglish
      3·
      6 days ago

      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.

  • SaturdayMorning@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    6 days ago

    I’m Canadian, living in Canada. I grew up drinking unfiltered tap water (municipal water) all my life and still do. My tap water has always tasted fine to me and I have no health issue. I prefer my tap water over soda, juices, sport drinks or flavoured water etc, which has too much sugar.

  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    63·
    6 days ago

    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.

    • Luccus@feddit.orgEnglish
      6·
      6 days ago

      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.

    • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.orgEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      Too bad they won’t sell restaurants KOFO, the syrup they mix with water and CO₂ to make Kofola, so they could efficiently transport it to the tap. Yes, the country is small so it’s not much of a deal there but there is demand in Czech communities elsewhere, such as Banat (Romania) and a couple US towns.

  • Justchilling@feddit.nlEnglish
    76·
    6 days ago

    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!

      • samus12345@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        7 days ago

        I’m mostly basing it on my experience at restaurants in the 90s. If you asked for water, you got mineral water.

        • rumschlumpel@feddit.orgEnglish
          3·
          6 days ago

          That’s more of a greed issue, though. Though bottled water is very popular in Germany, many people don’t bother with it especially if they live in multi-family homes (very unfun to carry bottled water up 3 flights of stairs) and definitely if they don’t have a car.

        • rustydrd@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          5·
          7 days ago

          You gotta ask for tap water, if you want tap water. Otherwise, they’ll bring you bottled water, which sells for more.

          • samus12345@lemm.eeEnglish
            2·
            7 days ago

            Yeah, I learned that quickly, but even then, you would get room temperature water with no ice. Was quite a culture shock!