Can you Drink TAP WATER in Germany?

[@sabinebiesalski5618]

The stigma of tap water dates back to the time when it was known that lead pipes were poisoning the water. About 10 years ago, I worked in a public building where - for cost reasons - not every lead water pipe was replaced by a modern copper pipe. As a result, some faucets had a sign on them. It showed the Hamburg Emblem and the notice: No drinking water. One day there was a water pipe burst in this line and it had to be renewed - repairing old lead lines is not allowed. Since then, the "No drinking water" sign has been hanging in my kitchen and every visitor wonders about it. Today, tap water is the best controlled foodstuff and is used for cooking, baking, tea and coffee, and is increasingly drunk just as it is.

[@katherinegarciacruz370]

I Just wanted to Say... Thank You!!!! You are awesome! I am also in Düsseldorf and I was struggling a lot for the taste of the water. I saw your video and coincidentally I saw Brita yesterday in Kaufland. I bought it immediately and tried it. OMG! The difference was huuuuge! You cannot imagine how much I appreciate this video in particular. Vielen Dank!!!

[@multisorcery-8840]

You can use white vinegar to clean chalk residue. I learned this in Canada where we also have hard water and I also use vinegar to clean salt stains off my boots in the winter. I put my showerhead in vinegar to unclog it from the chalk residue. In some areas where people get water from a well the water may contain so much iron that it turns your clothes yellow when you wash them.

[@simplegermany]

True! Lemon juice is also great to remove the chalk 😊

[@arnodobler1096]

@@simplegermany Zitronensäure 👍👍

[@janrupertalfeche8959]

You know, I was *just* thinking about this. Fascinating to see it answered here! 😳

[@simplegermany]

Ha! 😉

[@de435tt8]

i am really fond of your channel , it helped me a lot moving on to Berlin

[@carlesinseattle7660]

In Ulm lebender Kanadier. Vielen Dank für deine informativen Videos! Ich lerne viele Dinge, die ich sonst nicht wüsste. das thema wasser ist für mich groß. Ich liebe das sprudelnde Wasser aus dem Getränkeladen, aber nicht den Vorgang, mit dem Auto zu fahren, um Wasser zu holen. vor kurzem bin ich auf sodastream umgestiegen und habe das Leitungswasser nie in Frage gestellt.

[@lydonline9214]

Ich habe das Video noch nicht zu Ende gesehen, kann aber jetzt schon sagen, dass die meisten (!) stillen Flaschenwasser eine wesentlich schlechtere Qualität haben als unser Trinkwasser aus dem Hahn. Mein Großvater war Chemiker und hatte sich Zeit seines Lebens auf Trinkwasser spezialisiert. Er war beteiligt bei vielen Wasserwerken in Deutschland, anderen Teilen in Europa und sogar Afrika. Er schüttelte immer schon den Kopf darüber, dass Stilles Wasser in Kisten gekauft wird wobei es meist schlechter ist als das was wir in Deutschland, egal wo, aus dem Hahn bekommen. Ich trinke es nur und sprudle mir das Wasser auf, wenn ich mag. Es schmeckt mir wesentlich besser als die vielen oftmals etwas muffigen Sorten aus dem Laden, was besonders bei angebrochenen Flaschen nach ein, zwei Tagen intensiver auffällt. Und dazu spart es Zeit, Kraft und Geld auf Krahneberger umzusteigen. Was will ich mehr ^^

[@matzek6200]

Da ich vor über 25 Jahren mal bei der Landeswasserversorgung gearbeitet habe weiß ich daß unser Wasser schon damals absolut bedenkenlos zum trinken geeignet war und trinke das Wasser seither auch ohne groß darüber nachzudenken.

[@Narethian]

My hometown has really hard water but it tastes okay but also not great. My uncle has his own water well and that water tastes way better and is probably much softer. Luckily at my current place the water is only medium hard. Even that makes a big difference. Not long ago I switched to a Sodastream and I'm quite happy with it. I can also confirm the "stigma" that tap water is considered as "cheap" but I think it is changing.

[@laureneastwood5936]

This is so interesting! It’s an issue I’ve been encountering since I moved here. I’m glad there are some campaigns to promote tap water for drinking. But yes…it is frowned upon! I’m a camel too :) and am rarely without my super old reusable water bottle.

[@je9472]

I'm from the south of germany and I mostly dink tab water. It is very well regulated and checked however there might be a lead contamination in very old buildings. You should definitly check for any lead content in the tab water before drinking it regularly.

[@iler859]

Ja! I also use the Brita. The water coming out is just fine. But I figured coffee tastes better using light water ;)

[@jensbarlau2256]

Your are right we should drink more tap water! We alwys do in my family. If you want it sparkling use a soda stream to sparkle up your tap water!

[@kimkamkun09]

As a tourist who visited Germany recently I have drank the tap water every day. I was scared to do it at first and had a medicine ready incase I would get diarrhea but I didn’t so I’m happy to be drinking the tap water in Germany I prefer it than the sparkling water. Hehe more power to the channel

[@werpu12]

Visit Vienna, we flush our toilets with mountain mineral water there...

[@abileneaugie8961]

From Texas here. I drink hard underground well water from a few hundred feet under my house right out the faucet. I recently went to Munich on a business trip. I found it odd that asking for water they brought me sparkling or still in a bottle. I got an aluminum water bottle at the airport and drank tap water all over Munich and Rosenheim. A coworker from there even told me it was ok to drink.

[@peshang.r]

Thank you for your useful information ,I am new in Germany I always watch your videos 🌺🙏

[@thomasvogler7978]

As a son of a german engineer in waterclarification-industry I totally approve the content of that video. To answer your question I drink tapwater alot on a daily basis, I do not buy any bottled water from the supermarket just in case having guests for example. One difference is missing in your video, when it comes to waterquality in bottles there is a difference between ordinary water (Tafelwasser) and water from a natural spring (Quellwasser). That refers to the origin of the water, its pureness and the resulting mineralcontent. Tapwater has the same quality as bottled ordinary water (Tafelwasser). Springwater has in general a higher price and referring to the restrictions for beerbrewery in germany ( Reinheitsgebot ) forces brewers to use springwater only in brewing processes for example. And I think that is a second point why you earn strange reactions in a restaurant or bar when asking for tapwater, they want to sell you something and noone would feel to charge you for a glas of tapwater but for the glas of sparkling ordinary water makes big difference for the tavernowner. Big but on that, if you are walking around in hot summer with animals , dogs, cats etc. do not hesitate to ask for water for your pet many offer water for pets themselves when it is really hot outside.

[@simplegermany]

Thanks for your insights! 😊

[@vickidelp4815]

I vacationed in the Fussen area, the tap water in our inn was absolutely fine. Not to get off the subject but the milk in that area was delicious.

[@kingflando7881]

I do only drink tap water at home and my whole family does so, too because we don’t like sparkling water. And furthermore the Water in our town (Essen) is very good so its really unnecessary to buy water.

[@rustoo3823]

Great video! I always had this question about water in Germany! One other question I had for Jen and Yvonne from Simple Germany: Do people in Germany boil the tap water before drinking to kill germs? It is very common to boil water before drinking in other countries.

[@simplegermany]

Yes, we are aware it is common in other countries if you'd want to drink it (like in Guatemala), but in Germany we don't need to do that. Just drink it cold and not warm from the tap 😊

[@hergerger8725]

Tab water is the most tested food in Germany and totally safe. Depending where you live, tab water tastes better then bottled water. Our family only tab water.

[@rustoo3823]

@@simplegermany Thank you! Once again, really awesome videos! Please keep up the great work you both and your production team are doing.

[@karinland8533]

Because you never know if the landlord has the temperature high enough to kill the legionella bacteria, I would not recommend drinking the warm water from the tab.

[@almanoor-bakker5964]

@@karinland8533 the danger of legionella is not so much in drinking, your stomach will take care of it. But you wouldn't want to shower at a place with even remote danger of legionella

[@Mozart4000]

I drink always tap water (with SodaStream) and many of my friends and family too. I know a few company which offers they staff "tap water bubbeling machines" in their offices for free use. This machines are using mostly (not always) tap water too.

[@reginas.3491]

Living in Berlin and drinking tap water. For use in coffeemaker or kettle I use filterd water as the water is very hard. It is not necessary to boil water before drinking. 🥛

[@petersmiling9494]

Drinking water is totally safe when it comes from the public utilities. But there are, especially in rural areas, sometimes private wells whose water contains germs, often near farms with livestock.

[@leDespicable]

Some people claim that they don't like drinking tap water because they live in an area with very hard water and it tastes bad...as someone who lives near the alps (which means we have *VERY* hard water), I don't know what they are on about. Our water tastes fine, I think in many cases it's more a case of the pipes being old and influencing the taste of the water. I exclusively drin tap water, we've never been a bottled water family and mostly bought tetra pak juices to mix with the tap water, that was about it when it comes to bought beverages in our home.

[@dreasbn]

Was ja auch lange Jahrzehnte ein Thema war, waren die Bleirohre. D.h. nicht das Wasser war schlecht aber in alten Gebäuden hatten viele Angst dass das Wasser kontaminiert sein könnte. Das war auch ein Grund mit Leitungswasser zurückhaltend um zu gehen. Und dann einfach die Vorstellung dass eben in Mineralwasser wie der Name schon sagt mehr Mineralien wie Natrium und Magnesium etc. drin sind also es wirklich gesünder wäre. So habe ich es als Kind wahrgenommen. Darüber hinaus ist der Trend in den letzten Jahren doch deutlich von normalem Sprudel zu Medium und stillem Wasser zu verzeichnen. So einen guten altmodischen Sprudel trinken meines Erachtens nur noch wenige.

[@gamepat9]

In my experience most tap water in germany doesn't have the best taste, but I drink it as my main source of Water because it's basically free and quick. But everywhere I tried it, you can taste the "Kalk" (Chalk?) in it. That's why I sometimes run it through a cheap brita filter, and afterwards it tastes much smoother and better. Also, If you want to use it for coffee machines or similar, I'd say it's mandatory to filter it first.

[@simplegermany]

Agreed 😉 Edit: agreed for Düsseldorf, not agreed for Bonn 😅

[@karinland8533]

Not agreed. I actually like it that way, but I grew up with it. 😅

[@petersmiling9494]

In German restaurants, drinks are disproportionately expensive compared to the food. The restaurants live from the drinks and are of course not willing to offer free tap water.

[@wizardm]

One problem of tap water is that the proof of quality not refers to the tap. The tubes in buildings often are in bad conditions. Another hygienic issue is the aerator in the tap. So it's not in general better to drink tap water on a daily basis.

[@katherinelandreth2191]

I'm from the US where sparkling water is becoming a thing, but still water is more common. Not all water in the US is totally safe to drink though I think most probably is. Sometimes it's safe to drink, but doesn't taste very nice. Where I live it is safe, but it tastes much better if it's filtered first. And I prefer sparkling water. So I filter pitchers of water from the tap and use my SodaStream to make sparkling water every day. I even have my SodaStream hooked up to a bigger CO2 tank that's meant for beer. This is much more economical than the small SodaStream brand canisters. I recently learned about the German love of price/value comparison (Preis Leistungsverhältnis). I wonder how that plays into the tap water vs bottled water debate. I certainly think I'm getting the best value for my money using tap water in my modified SodaStream. But maybe Germans think of bottled water as better value because of status or quality even if it's more expensive than tap water?

[@jonasbermejo]

Hermoso video, este tema del agua siempre me preocupaba. Gracias ! 😃

[@AP-RSI]

Every now and then I drink water from the tap, mostly in the summer when it's very hot. But in principle I like sparkling water better.

[@arnodobler1096]

Lake Constance is the biggest drinking water reservoirs in Germany. 320 cities and 4 million people drink from it.

[@batmanbtch958]

I was drinking the tap water when I was in Ukraine! It was so yellowish. Here in Germany water tastes and looks so sweet

[@elenagirly4093]

Ich benutze einen sodastream und einen Britafilter. Gerade weil ich viel kaffee und Tee trinke ist das echt praktisch

[@martinbruhn5274]

When I lived in Karlsruhe, I always tried to avoid drinking water from the tap. The water in Karlsruhe is safe to drink, but it has so much calcium in it, it tastes absolutely horrible. When you cook with it, or drink from a glass, you always have this white layer of chalk left on it afterwards. Same thing, when you wash your clothes, or use the dishwasher. You just can't get rid of the chalky stains in Karlsruhe everywhere.

[@arnodobler1096]

Karlsruhe hat noch kein Bodenseewasser glaub ich?!

[@janheinbokel3969]

Tap water fresh from the Mix battery IS the strictest controlled beverage in Germany and you can rely on this

[@ElinT13]

I love tap water, and I drink it daily, but I also drink bottled water. And our water is very hard, but I am used to it and I have come to like it. The Britta filters are very expensive and I do not find the water to be that much softer.

[@piccadelly9360]

Mineral water from the plastic bottle is not so healthy when it has to be mineral water, then a glass bottle is the better choice. Tap water has better quality than plastic bottled water . How is it in Guatemala?

[@simplegermany]

In Guate you can’t drink the tap water. We usually have these big standing water dispensers in a house.

[@learnmore9485]

I live in Berlin, I usually drink from the Tap 🚰 the water is yummy. I would never buy water inside a plastic container. It doesn’t just make sense to me.

[@ReinholdOtto]

I drink still water only if I am really thirsty. Flat water doesn't quench my thirst, and it betrays me of the refreshment.

[@dieteroffermann3880]

I think with the SodaStream System we drink now more tab water, but carbonatet!!! Some times when no other water is in the near, Idrink tab water too. I come from Cologne we have the hardest water too. But a hardcore teadrinker say to me: don´t filtered the tab water the tea smells better with lime.

[@gfree4173]

Jen and Yvonne-Would it be of any advantage to do a video on the German school system to help people with kids moving to Germany?

[@simplegermany]

Guess what? It’s already in the pipeline 😊 For now you can have a look at our written guide: www.simplegermany.com/german-school-system/

[@gfree4173]

@@simplegermany Awesome and thanks for the prompt reply.

[@oehrk]

We like sparkling water and switched to a sodastream a few years ago

[@xyzxyz0815]

I always drink tap water. We have very soft water and you could not taste whether it is tap or bottled mineral water. Germany has only one (excellent!) quality of tap water. The water in the bathroom is as good as in the kitchen. Problems might come from dirty pipes or taps but normally not from the providing source as it is controlled very strictly.

[@Gbtrading101]

Beautiful couple❤️🔥. I just love watching you guys

[@RobMoerland]

I'm Dutch and only drink tap water. So whenever I'm in Dresden I drink tap water. It tastes just fine.

[@ethansouls77]

I've just moved to Germany this month and have been drinking the water everyday. Tastes a bit strange but seems okay. A bit harsh on the skin though when showering but could just be that my skin is sensitive.

[@karinland8533]

That because it is very chalky

[@uliwehner]

@@karinland8533 probably not Chalk (Kreide) but rather Calcium.

[@karinland8533]

@@uliwehner yes, wrong translation😉

[@alicemilne1444]

@@uliwehner Calcium is the main component of chalk. Chalk is a form of limestone (CaCO3). Water that comes from sources where there is a lot of limestone are generally said in English (I'm from the UK) to taste chalky. I used exactly that term in my reply to Neil Stewart.

[@uliwehner]

@@alicemilne1444 i don't ming chalky taste as a term. In germany you get Kalk. Which is not the same word as Kreide. Kreide is used to write on a chalk board. Kalk is dissolved in hard water and leaves white residue or clogs water pipes. Neither in Germany nor here in the US would we say chalk for that. This is simply a vocabulary choice. I understand the common etymology of Kalk and chalk.

[@Life-with-Ara]

I just moved to Munich and the water is very hard here. It has taken me some time to get used to it but I also don’t like the idea of buying water..

[@Yosh001]

Being very skin sensitive and living in Düsseldorf I have to say that not only the water is very hard here but also more chloride than e.g., in Bavaria. Whenever I spend a weekend with my friends near Aschaffenburg and come back here, I really feel how “aggressive” the Düsseldorf Water is in the shower compared to there. Nevertheless, travelling a lot abroad, I agree that water (bottled or - God for sake tabbed water) in German restaurants are way overpriced (5€ for 0.75 liters seem to be the standard!).

[@Yosh001]

PS: Fun Fact: there is (or was) a law that bars and restaurants must sell at least one non-alcoholic drink below the price of the cheapest alcoholic drink. That lead to the fact, that bars and restaurants were offering a glass of milk as the cheapest non-alcoholic beverage rather than water because they denied of missing the margin they make with water…

[@simplegermany]

Oh wow, really? That’s crazy!

[@rickysGVA]

I drink tap water, after going through my brita filter. :)

[@apocryphal_man]

Short answer: yes, with confidence.

[@2mrvamshi]

Could you please make a video about Kalk content in tap water in Germany, they say Kalk content in tap water is very high and not good for health. Please advise.

[@simplegermany]

We talk about it a bit more one our guide: www.simplegermany.com/drink-tap-water-germany/ Additionally you can watch this video (in German, but you can enable automatic subtitles): kzbin.info/www/bejne/opekaaOKYpaYga8

[@saschamohr7970]

Considering that most Germans drink coffee (or tea) at home or at work, i guess 90+ % drink tap water daily. So do I; greetings from Koblenz.

[@j7ndominica051]

Plain water in bottles is a strange first world problem, where the technology for water purification is also the best. I can't imagine paying money for water, even for simple flavored drinks. It's far more efficient to buy a syrup and dilute it. You only ever need to drink excess plain water in crazy summer heat. But somehow it's fashionable to drink from plastic bottles in the west. The Brita cup clogs up over time and passes water slowly without pressure. It's unnecessary if your water doesn't smell of chemicals. It's easier to wash small boilers with citric acid.

[@christopherbako]

I prefer tap water. And use soda stream for my bubbles 🙂

[@uliwehner]

so here we go. I live in the US now where you just can't drink the tap water. It is safe (as in all the germs are dead due to chlorine) but it tastes like ass. Parts of the south like Tennessee, also have lots of sulfur in their drinking water. no it does not smell good either. when i still lived in germany i always drank tap water if when i ran out of bottled mineral water. I prefer the sparkling water. It tastes great and it is cheap. Here in the US sparkling water is not very common, and it is expensive. more expensive than beer i germany....

[@tonischumacher2]

In the town where I grew up, the water is actually disgusting ^^. It's perfectly safe to drink but it tastes like iron. It almost tastest a little like blood. You always feel like your gums are bleeding. Where I live now the tap water is good. it's very hard too but i don't mind it.

[@fannychristozova8158]

Very well explained! I keep hearing about that... And just to share a little something, here in my home town of Plovdiv perfectly drinkable and tasty tap water is like a trademark! Almost nowhere else is tap water that vastly and securely used for drinking. When I have friends coming over from the capital Sofia, they forget every time that our water IS good for drinking. 🤣 cause over there it's usually inadvisable. And yes, it does matter from area to area if it's harder or softer water.. I damaged a boiling container in a seaside town exactly because of this. Thank you for the detailed specifications, I never realized the differences between some of the criteria. 🚰 In my experience in Hildesheim, because I lived there for 11 days, and before that in Berlin... yes, tap water was great! To me it felt like at home, but just a tiny little bit sweeter. Which is just perfect!

[@simplegermany]

Ah super interesting that Bulgaria has such big differences!

[@fannychristozova8158]

@@simplegermany Can you believe it, in this small area country you have one town with perfect for drinking tap water, and then in the nearest significant town they tell people to only buy or filter water. I've been lucky to be a Plovdiv girl, but I also understand areas not at all far. And your advice about keeping tap water drinkable, this is essentially the people culture. 😉

[@DinoPasic]

Well, i would say Germans don't have good water in the Houses, they just have filtered water. Im coming from country where we have really good water and we see the difference. I don't recommend drinking tap water, without filtering first.

[@melissaneal5941]

Do you recommend filters in the bathroom (shower)? I hear the water can hurt your hair.

[@simplegermany]

We have never heard of it or used any filter.

[@alphonsemathew7596]

What about the hot water from the tap. Is it good ?

[@simplegermany]

Yes, it is good, however, we prefer drinking cold water. So we always use cold water and if we want hot water for tea or coffee etc, we boil it.

[@PalmyraSchwarz]

I think tap water is unfortunately unusual because we have been exposed to successful advertising strategies from the mineral water industry for decades, which want to make bottled water palatable to us because it is said to be healthier due to its higher mineral content. Unfortunately, this cannot be said in general terms. Do you need bottled water to survive? A clear no! To answer your question, I have to drink even more than I would like for health reasons and tap water is my first choice because it is so much cheaper. I used to drink sparkling water a lot, but I've given up on it now. Restaurants are now pursuing a mixed calculation of food and drinks, with restaurants earning more from drinks than from food and therefore often refuse to serve tap water.

[@MotherEarth573]

Where can tourists refill water in Munich city? Any shopping mall? I saw restaurants charge a lot for a bottle of water

[@simplegermany]

You can drink any tap water but there are no official refilling stations and you always need to pay for water in restaurants.

[@reinhard8053]

We have very hard water but my house has a water softening device. I also have a well with water that is even harder up to the limits of what you can find. From my measurements it is harder than any in Germany (I'm in Austria). I rarely drink pure water, but if I do I prefer still (tap) water. On the other hand I like sparkling drinks (just not pure water). So I use a Sodastream and mix nearly every fruit juice with sparkling water.

[@juanantonio3487]

Your drinking consumption is gay

[@BC_26fhj]

Chemicals in the plastic bottle can leach into the water.

[@neilstewart7437]

When I've been in Germany it seems that the water most available and offered is mineral water. In the US most bottled water is spring water or just purified water. Does this also affect the idea of the difference in ideas about Gesund?

[@alicemilne1444]

Germany, like many other countries in Europe, has a history of places where the local spring water was known to have beneficial properties, either for bathing or drinking, because of the specific combination of minerals it contained, and health resorts grew up around them. These were generically known in English as spas after the Belgian town of Spa which was one of the first places to offer such treatments (known as balneotherapy) and was a popular destination for the wealthy. If you look at a map of Germany you will see many place names beginning with "Bad" (meaning "bath"). This is similar to the town of Bath in England or to many French towns that have "aux-bains" (at the baths) in their name. "Taking the waters" is an expression you'll find in 18th/19th century English literature. In Germany, a whole industry arose around that. It was originally associated both with health and wealth. In Germany, as elsewhere, right up until the end of the 19th century there were frequent cholera epidemics. Robert Koch (after whom Germany's infectious diseases institute - similar to the USA's CDC - is named) first proved in 1883 that cholera is transmitted by contaminated water. Other water-borne pathogens were detected later. Once that became known, public water supplies all over Germany were modernised and filtration and purification introduced. However, the idea arose in public consciousness that tap water was not healthy and so people who could afford it bought bottled water. At the time, bottled water was mostly mineral water, and since quite a few of the mineral springs were naturally carbonated and therefore fizzy, fizzy mineral water became associated with health. If you left fizzy water to stand, it became still and was therefore not fresh any more. When I first came to Germany in the early 1970s you could hardly get any bottled still water anywhere - unlike France where Evian and Vittel (both from volcanic springs) were widely sold. I mention France because I grew up between Scotland (very soft almost sweet-tasting water everywhere; everybody drank it straight from the tap) and the Paris region of France (incredibly hard water that tasted chalky). Bottled still water started becoming more common in Germany around the 1980s. To sum up, bottled water used to have purely health aspects. Now it's largely simply a cultural item. Not everything that is sold as mineral water has medicinal properties. Most people buy it because of the taste and the fizz.

[@sntsk]

I've heard some people say not to drink warm water from the tap. Any idea about it?

[@simplegermany]

Yeah, it's best to drink the tap water cold.

[@InsEngineered]

It’s hard to find a good water dispenser in Germany for home use. Breta and similar jugs are the only options :(.

[@simplegermany]

Oh really? What kind of jug do you have in mind? We would say they are quite common in Germany. Google ‘Wasserkaraffe’ and you see tons of variations and shops 😉

[@MrBenedictus25]

Vienna has the best tap water you find in any Großstadt

[@asfandshabbir3330]

what about finland water ?

[@suzannes5888]

Ah, more Germans drink tap water than I thought! I like iced tap water, I have never bought water in bottles (unless I'm in a city or country with unsafe or contaminated water) and I never drink fizzy water - it makes me burp. I figure if my body reacts like that, that I shouldnt be drinking it. 🤔 When I order flat Stuttgart water I sometimes get an eye roll. 🙄 😳 In some parts of the US (like Phoenix, Arizona) its illegal to not give someone water they're asking for and cannot pay for it, even if it's in a bottle at a convenience store, and they don't have fountain water. It's part of their Good Citizens laws, as people could die without water in the summer heat of the southern Arizona desert.

[@simplegermany]

Oh wow that’s interesting! Hahaha yeah I also don’t like frizzy water -J

[@suzannes5888]

@@simplegermany Yes, native Arizonan people are known for doing what makes sense, and not just following what everyone else is doing. Phoenix also has something called "Stupid Motorist Laws" (lol)... which are interesting. 🤔 Arizona is also the only state in the US that never goes on Daylight Savings Time (DST). In the Spring and Fall, Arizona often has both the hottest temperature in the US (in the Southern Arizona desert) and just two hours away, the coldest temperature in the US (in Northern Arizona, where you can snow ski, and near the Grand Canyon - one of the Seven Wonders of the World). I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. It was an awesome place to grow up! 🌵🪴⛳ 🌄

[@simplegermany]

Talking about time differences in Arizona, we almost missed our tour through the Antelope Canyon because of the time difference between Arizona and Navajo nation 🙈 we were so confused 😅

[@kimquinn9586]

My daughter and I drank the tap water in germany I was so sick and she almost died this was back in the nineteen eighties

[@tobiasharnisch4155]

Yes and no. In some older buildings it isn't always possible. I get ill drinking my tap water...

[@tatianamalinowska504]

Which regions in Germany have soft water? Or website to check it?

[@rivenadeshizzle]

I tried Berlin tap water and it tastes horrible compared to Southern California tap water.

[@simplegermany]

Yeah, I’ve heard tap water in California is quite good.

[@gomesajay]

At home I always drink tap water

[@hector7684]

I was drinking happily tap water until the "Trinkwasserverordnung" left a note about a recent study on Legionella of the buildings water quality. The result is a semaphore on "yellow" and a number... 1300 KBE/100ml. I tried to Google this result but i don't know if I should worry about it. Any idea what that means? anyone?

[@simplegermany]

Just googled it and that is not good. You shouldn’t drink it and inform your landlord!

[@hector7684]

@@simplegermany Thanks for the quick answer :)

[@Ringelsocke.]

I live in Berlin and occasionally drink the tab water at home. It's totally fine if I drink one glas now and then, but if I fill up a bottle to take water with me, it tastes like liquid metal. 😖 I tried different bottles and of course a Brita filter. But no change. 😕 But at my daughters' , who also live in Berlin just half an hour away, the tab water is tasting good. They are using a soda stream too. 🙂 I prefer still water or water with a touch of sparkle, everything else is 'Rülpswasser' for me.

[@simplegermany]

Oh crazy how different it is in such small distances

[@alanabelcon]

I would love to drink the tap water in my Wilmersdorf's apartment but it tastes awful! AWFUL! I don't know what is wrong but something is wrong. I normally drink tap water in whatever country I live in and dislike the concept of buying bottled water all the time but I don't know what to do!

[@simplegermany]

Mmh, try a water filter or have it checked whether there actually might be something wrong with the pipes? 🤨How old is the building?

[@karinland8533]

Might be a built in water softener for the whole building. They usually use salt and it tastes discusting

[@alanabelcon]

@@simplegermany I don't know exactly but fairly new. The irony is that 2 weeks ago we had no water for 4 days because they were changing the pipes. I thought that would solve the taste problem but it didn't so the source of the issue isn't the building I don't think. :(

[@alanabelcon]

@@karinland8533 Eww! I will call the Apartment company tomorrow and ask.

[@Steeler-wg5zo]

@@alanabelcon Berlin's waterworks have huge problems getting clean water because Berlin is built on a huge, sandy marsh. In fact, secondary contamination often appears there. The supply is then interrupted.

[@angela4714]

Sería genial que activarán los subtitulos en español.

[@MHahn-bg7cu]

One for the algorithm.

[@SarcasticAssertive]

Boil 10min before consuming

[@simplegermany]

Not necessary in Germany 😊

[@Steeler-wg5zo]

As far as I know, every waterworks in Germany is protected with very sensitive fish, (trout) before the feed. They react as quick as an arrow if anything is wrong. (die unfortunately in case of...)

[@RustyDust101]

Hamburg resident here: yepp, I drink mostly tap water. A year or so ago I still sparkled it with Sodastream but for more than a year I've changed to still water as it help my 'internal gas problem'. The harder water is okay, as it helps the pipe in the house stay safer unless they get completely clogged with calcium, which can be a problem if there are air bubbles contained in the pipe network where deposits can form due to evaporation. The softer water, especially in areas with extremely low mineral content, may cause some problems in homes with COPPER piping. Copper piping may, under very special circumstances, release copper ions into the water which may possibly be harmful to newborns and toddlers. So in those cases have your house-piping checked for that problem. Full lead pipes had to be removed and exchanged some time ago. So full lead piping and its associate slow lead poisoning is a thing of the past. Only in some houses there might still be metal pipes connected via soldering with a lead content. But that's the only real problem.

[@simplegermany]

Thanks for your insights 😊

[@n1vca]

If you think your water in Düsseldorf is hard, try the water here in Munich ... the entire Alps are in there 🤣 ... without a water filter you can not enjoy a good tea and you clog up everything that contains or heats water. The closer you live to the Alps, where the water is from, the more urgent you need a water filter because the amount of calcium here is enormous. Regarding the water, it is quite funny that plain water, no bubbles, not cold is one of the best things you can do to your body when drinking plenty of it. It is the best medicine and costs nearly nothing ... you can literally bath in it ... try that with medicine ... your body is nearly 65% water, so the cells need it to stay fresh and healthy. Try to force yourself to drink some plain water (tastes boring at first) on a daily basis and you will most likely see instant results from that! As long as water is so cheap most people will never realize how essential and good it is for us. Drinking bottled stuff is so very German, I stopped that many years ago, its completely unnecessary to me and a waste of money and environment with all the logistics involved.

[@simplegermany]

Oh really! We were not aware of that and always thought the water in the mountains is the purest 😇

[@n1vca]

@@simplegermany It is very pure, pure calcium :-)

[@tatianamalinowska504]

That's really strange. I thought water from mountains should be soft. At least in Scotland it is.

[@DipankarSinhaSarkar]

Ich trinke immer Leitungswasser

[@huntress_9441]

My host family couldn't understand why I didn't want to drink fizzy water all the time - "why do you keep drinking from the tap? We're not poor!"

[@simplegermany]

Stigma right there 😉

[@richardbourke9412]

you could have stopped at "yes, you can"

[@danialfarooq7762]

Drinking Tap water is bad idea for Lippe, Lemgo and Hanover. its very hard water

[@monikadale8961]

Berlin has the best Tap Water which I cannot say about the USA!

[@simplegermany]

Yeah the water in the USA sometimes tastes weird 🙊

[@AlexTheGerman]

Americans praise themselves for offering free tap water pitchers (with crazy amounts of ice cubes) in restaurants but each time I tasted it, it was awful, highly-chlorinated, not tasty at all, yes, even disgusting. Obviously, Americans don't care and enjoy sipping from public pools … No offense, of course. 😉 German tap water is among the most tasty ones and strictly monitored.

[@andymo4671]

German answer : No Correct anawer: Yes! Quite simple

[@nothahn]

Only tab water, no need for sparkling water....

[@rickyn1135]

I love USA tap water. I love water.

[@worldhello1234]

Yes, you can but why would you if you ain't no savage? 😘

[@reinerbergkamen7852]

Mein Nachbar trinkt schon seit Jahren auschließlich "Kraneberger". Ich persönlich finde Leitungswasser eklig

[@andyspark5192]

Kraneberger 😁

[@Neil-Aspinall]

Problem with tap water is you just can't be sure of it's traveling history to your lips?

[@RandyMahnke]

wdym? of course you can be sure.

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@RandyMahnke No one in Germany drinks tap water unless their socioeconomic status is the lowest. The bottled water industry makes 10's of millions of Euros every month but for surety of safety, it's worth it.

[@RandyMahnke]

@@Neil-Aspinall I am german and that's not true. Everyone I know drinks tap water. The quality of the tap water is higher than the bottled water. You don't make any sense

[@Neil-Aspinall]

@@RandyMahnke How on God's Earth could tap wasser be of a purer state than bottled wasser when tap wasser has gone through untold different pipes to one's house? You are delusional Rands. I have many friends in Deutschland and not one of them drinks wasser from a tap.

[@RandyMahnke]

@@Neil-Aspinall germany has the cleanest tap water in the world. It's very strictly controlled. Pipes are also controlled, so yes, tap water is if higher quality if you believe it or not. You're not even german and want to tell a german that you know german tap water better than him. Pretty bold of you..