Germany: Takes third option and buys bottled water. Part of the reason is that carbonated water is really popular, and home carbonators are usually kind of difficult/annoying to clean properly. Also, restaurants often won't serve tap water due to greed.

[–] Jomn@jlai.lu 28 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

I'll never understand countries where restaurants don't serve tap water for free... It feels so greedy (as you say) and doesn't make me want to eat there...

[–] arrow74@lemm.ee 9 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

It was a big struggle for me in germany. I have a condition that makes swallowing food very difficult and have to essentially "push" food down with a lot of water.

I would easily need to buy 2-3 .75l bottles per meal, so instead I bought 1 bottle and brought a reusable water bottle to every restaurant. No one complained, and I did always buy at least a drink.

But if you just let me have tap water, or even have tap water after purchasing a drink I could have enjoyed a meal without rationing my water.

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[–] madjo@feddit.nl 11 points 4 weeks ago

The biggest brand of home carbonators (Soda Stream) is an Israeli brand. Just something to think about.

[–] starlinguk@lemmy.world 8 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I drink Sprudelwasser with dinner and the rest of the day it's just tap water. We live in an incredibly hard water area so tap water is basically mineral water.

[–] Kissaki@feddit.org 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

When you drink hard water, are you getting stoned? 😏

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[–] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 weeks ago

It's a generational thing, too, though. At my parents' place, they'll look at me like I lost a limb when I drink tap water. Meanwhile, all the homies and homettes drink nothing but tap water.

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[–] truthfultemporarily@feddit.org 25 points 4 weeks ago (8 children)

Tap water decreases your microplastic exposure by 90%.

[–] KeefChief13@lemmy.world 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Fr?

[–] M137@lemmy.world 8 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Compared to bottled water, oh yeah. Here's some articles from various places:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/plastic-particles-bottled-water

https://time.com/6553165/microplastics-in-bottled-water-study/

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223730333/bottled-water-plastic-microplastic-nanoplastic-study

https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/01/09/bottled-water-contains-100-times-more-plastic-nanoparticles-than-previously-thought

I just took some I recognised as "ok" sources, but there are thousands of articles about it elsewhere too.

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[–] morrowind@lemmy.ml 18 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

You guys drink donuts?

[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 9 points 4 weeks ago

…you don’t?

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[–] Wahots@pawb.social 16 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

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.world 9 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

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

I wouldn't drink tap water in Crete for instance

[–] Echolynx@lemmy.zip 9 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

I mean, the rules are always a bit different for islands.

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[–] Haarukkateroitin@sopuli.xyz 7 points 4 weeks 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.

[–] Bohurt@lemm.ee 7 points 4 weeks 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.

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[–] torrentialgrain@lemm.ee 15 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Not feasible to drink tap water in every EU country though.

[–] ahornsirup@feddit.org 24 points 4 weeks ago (7 children)

Even worse, it's not caffeinated in any EU country.

[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

LPT if you are getting "coffee" every day at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, a cheap home expresso machine will pay itself in a month. As a bonus you have the option of using actual coffee.

[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 12 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (6 children)

Making things at home will almost always be cheaper but ignores the rituals embedded into capitalism.

That cup of coffee you make at home before you leave does not possess the same psychological comfort as the one you have at the end of your commute just before walking into the office.

Our brain is wired to want specific inputs at specific times in relation to our environment and i sometimes feel like the entire work commute culture is designed to exploit it.

Going somewhere after work to blow of steam has the same vibe. Nothing wrong with that on permis but the opportunity to get you to spend is well understood in business.

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[–] tatann@lemm.ee 12 points 4 weeks ago (16 children)

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.dev 29 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

None. I live in Austria and you can drink the tap water without any additional filters.

[–] SaturdayMorning@lemmy.world 9 points 4 weeks ago

I'm Canadian. I drink unfiltered tap water my whole life.

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[–] Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world 10 points 4 weeks 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.

[–] eneff@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Why would you filter it?

[–] Muoteck@szmer.info 9 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

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.today 9 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 9 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

Are you American? Who needs filters for tap water?

[–] krf@szmer.info 10 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

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

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[–] tatann@lemm.ee 7 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

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

[–] endeavor@sopuli.xyz 6 points 4 weeks 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.

[–] Retrograde@lemmy.world 5 points 4 weeks ago

Some European tap water is disgusting, I'm sorry to inform you

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[–] YungOnions@lemmy.world 8 points 4 weeks ago (3 children)

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/water-quality-by-country

[–] SierpinskiDreieck@feddit.org 15 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

US: 100/100 Score. Looking at you, Flint Michigan :D I don't know what cherrypicking bullshit they had to do to get that result.

[–] Kissaki@feddit.org 10 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

Yale University’s Environmental Performance Index, which tracks 40 performance indicators—including “Sanitation & Drinking Water”—in order to pinpoint the most environmentally friendly countries in the world. Additional performance indicators tracked by the EPI include environmental health, climate change mitigation, air quality, waste management, biodiversity, fishery populations, and more.

Sounds a bit like "stuff in place doing things" rather than actual quality tests. If so a bit of greenwashing seems feasible.

Sounds more like a development index than a quality index.

[–] SierpinskiDreieck@feddit.org 7 points 4 weeks ago

Which is even wilder. They are acting like agricultural and oil-drilling practices in the US (and elsewhere too) are not degrading the global fresh water base.

This is propaganda.

[–] Benign@fedia.io 6 points 4 weeks ago

Two main issues I see here:

they don't care if it is tap or bottle
they rely on hospitals reporting on contaminated water as a cause of medical issues or something

I other words: Only bottled water available, and hospitals don't report on water contamination issues - > 💯

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[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 13 points 4 weeks ago

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[–] lapislazuli@sopuli.xyz 8 points 4 weeks ago

Better for your teef as well.

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 4 weeks ago (4 children)

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

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