cross-posted from: https://europe.pub/post/47526
Absolutely not something to be given for granted.
Shoutout to u/UnusualInstance6 on Reddit
Water is, unironically, my favourite drink on this earth.
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2025
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Hydrate bitches!
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.
Nestlé:
Well, depends on either your definition of "drinkable" or "all" :D
I mean, you will find at least one spot in every EU country with drinkable tap water
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.
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...
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.
Most restaurants will serve you tap water if you buy a meal and a drink.
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The biggest brand of home carbonators (Soda Stream) is an Israeli brand. Just something to think about.
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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?
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Not feasible to drink tap water in every EU country though.
Even worse, it's not caffeinated in any EU country.
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.
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.
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.
You can put it into a thermal flask at home and then drink it whenever your feelings require.
They are most certainly an option and great if they work for you, but that’s beside the point, there are lots of reasons people may not like those. More to he point is that industry has been waking up about single use cup awareness and now loves to sell you a reusable bottle. Butt regardless of what capitalism is trying there is no single one solution for every possible human need. Selling beverages in public spaces must fill some niches though if it remains lucrative.
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What european water filter do you guys use for tap water ?
I personally use Brita, which is from Germany (and not Britain or Brittany)
None. Most of these plasticky filters are bullshit.
I've used a Brita jug, but with no name filters from the grocery store.
None. I live in Austria and you can drink the tap water without any additional filters.
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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.
Are you American? Who needs filters for tap water?
When I lived in Warsaw tap water tasted like public swimming pool water after boiling old shoe for an hour.
Can confirm, left out some prepositions, must be Slavic
Guilty as charged.
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