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.

  • Sam
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    41 year ago

    In Canada most people drink straight from the tap. I’ve met one person who uses a Brita filter…

    • Dialectic Cake
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      21 year ago

      I also don’t know anyone who uses a Brita filter. I prefer tap water and have never had to boil it but I’ve mainly lived in large cities in southern Ontario, Canada.

      However for a few months when I lived in a very small town (< 250 people) and the house I rented got water from a well – at that point I drank only bottled water. The well water turned the shower wall orange so I really wasn’t keen to drink it.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        It really depends on where you live. Ottawa has really really nice water in most places, but well water around ottawa has really high iron content that’s kinda nasty.

        Toronto is mostly fine.

        Waterloo water is extremely hard and tastes disgusting. Almost everyone uses Britas in waterloo.