Woman sparks fierce debate after refusing to drink hotel tap water

A WOMAN has sparked debate after she admitted to never drinking the tap water from a hotel bathroom.

While on a work trip, she said she was asked why she had bottled water when staying at a hotel, and asked if she was in the wrong.

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The mum wrote on Mumsnet: “Do you drink water from a hotel bathroom tap?

“Just wondering. Travelling for work with a couple of colleagues & one asked why I bought a large bottle of water for my room.

“Staying in a small independent hotel & I have no idea if it’s mains or tank fed, & I drink loads of water so I need a source.”

Lots of people said they happily drink the water from a hotel bathroom tap.

One person said: “Whenever we stay in hotels, we drink the water from the washbasin cold tap.

“Surely it is mains water, just like at home? And wouldn’t it be labelled as not fit for drinking otherwise?”

Another agreed: “Yes. It has never occurred to me not to.”

However, lots of people were adamant that they would never drink the hotel bathroom water.

One wrote: “No way, I always have bottle of water in a hotel.”

Another said: “I boil the kettle and allow the water to cool if I don’t have any bottled water.”

A third agreed: “No way. They might use tanks festering god knows what in them.”

In the UK, most hotel bathroom taps are likely to be safe to drink from, unless it is an older property as pre-1970s buildings use older storage tanks.

The only exception is if there is a sign by the sink saying the water is not fit for drinking water.

Many hotels now offer free tap water in reusable bottles – when we stayed at Mollie’s Motel in Bristol which has free filtered tap water in the corridors.

Destinations such as Canada, Spain, Portugal and Italy are also deemed safe for drinking tap water unless otherwise stated.

The safest country to drink tap water is Switzerland which has the cleanest in the world

However, countries such as Morocco, Turkey and Thailand are advised against drinking tap water.

Jérôme Logie, from the Water Division at National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) offered his top tips including avoiding the water if its cloudy and avoiding tap water at restaurants.

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