Here’s why you should never drink tap water on planes — seriously
You should never drink tap water during a flight.
No, this isn’t about trying to drink water in a cramped airplane toilet.
Bottled water is safe, but it’s best to avoid ordering coffee or tea on board.
Here’s why:
- Tap water on planes may be contaminated and full of bacteria.
- Flight attendants do not recommend ordering hot drinks prepared with water from airplane tanks.
- The staff chooses bottled water themselves due to the lack of control over cleaning the tanks.
- There are no specific guidelines on how often to clean water tanks in airplanes.
- An inspection in the United States found the presence of Escherichia coli bacteria in 1 in 10 planes.
You should never drink tap water during a flight, as it can be contaminated and full of bacteria.
Flight attendants do not recommend ordering hot drinks during service, because they are prepared with water from the plane’s tanks.
The staff has no influence on the frequency or quality of their cleaning, so they also choose only bottled water.
Interestingly, there are no precise guidelines governing how often tanks should be cleaned. A US inspection found that Escherichia coli bacteria can be found in 1 in 10 planes.
Consuming such contaminated water can cause food poisoning of varying degrees of severity.