For context, I live in Hong Kong where most people drink tap water after boiling first. Some may install water filter but may still boil the water. Very few drink bottle water unless they’re outside and too lazy to bring their own bottles.
Now, I’m researching whether I can drink tap water in Iceland (I’m going there in August), and while it looks like the answer is affirmative, almost no web article mention whether I need to boil the water first. People in Japan (a country I’ve visited a few times) also seems to be used to drink tap water directly without boiling.
The further I searched, the more it seems to me that in developed countries (like US, Canada and the above examples), tap water is safe to drink directly. Is that true? Do you drink tap water without boiling?
It sounds like a stupid question but I just can’t believe what I saw. I think I experienced a cultural shock.
Edit: wow, thanks so much for the responses and sorry if I didnt reply to each one of you but I’ll upvote as much as as I can. Never thought so many would reply and Lemmy is a really great community.
2nd Edit: So in conclusion, people from everywhere basically just drink water straight out of tap. And to my surprise, I checked the Water Supplies Department website and notice it asserts that tap water in Hong Kong is potable, like many well-developed countries and regions.
However, as the majority of Hong Kong people are living in high-rise buildings, a small amount of residual chlorine is maintained in the water to keep it free from bacterial infection during its journey in the distribution system. Therefore it is recommended to boil the water so that chlorine dissipates.
So, in short, I actually do not need to boil the water unless I hate chlorine smell and taste. But I guess I’ll just continue this old habit/tradition as there’s no harm in doing so.
Australian here. Yes, I regularly drink water from the tap without boiling it.
The only exception is if Sydney Water issue a “Boil water” alert. That usually only happens after really major flooding though.
West Aussie here, straight from the tap. Though different areas will taste different, they’re nearly all safe to drink. Any unsafe are well signed.
The taste of the water varies a fair bit depending on the area. I find northern suburbs of Perth water tastes a bit odd and would definitely want to filter it if I lived there.
Funny you say that, I’m NoR and think its fine 🙂
Another Australian here. Our water is safe to drink out of the tap. I drink tap water daily and have so all my life.
Another Australian here who drinks water on tap. Some places have bad tasting water but it’s still drinkable. It’s probably only bad because it’s different.
Adelaide water is fine now