People around the world, do you drink tap water without boiling?
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.
I live in the USA, and we don't have to boil tap water in my city, but after having lived for a spell in a place where tap water is boiled first, I boil mine because I like the way it tastes--it's sweeter. Maybe boiling it helps get rid of the chlorine taste that city water has? I don't know. But I do prefer it.
That's actually a really bad sign...
The most likely thing to make water taste sweet is lead, and heating up water with lead makes it even sweeter.
And that's 100% a problem you need to look out for in America.
Wow I didn't know this! Now I'm going to be analyzing all the water I drink for sweetness. Not sure if I should thank you... you have helped me be more safe but also instilled in me a brand new phobia!
The good news is it's not something that really changes.
Just test your home once, it's not like you need to constantly monitor it.
Just get the test strips, they're not expensive.
I appreciate you!
Former water treatment plant operator. Thanks for living up to your name.
I mean, it's not for purely altruistic reasons...
Lead fucks people up and slowly turns them into rage addicted assholes.
We got enough of those these days, I'd like the amount to go down over the next couple decades. So I never skip a chance to talk about the dangers of lead exposure
In some parts of Burgerland the tap water is brown. Lmao. Ohh say can you see ...