Drinking water - how safe
 

Hello, does anyone have feedback on how safe drinking water in France is, or does it vary throughout the country? We are going there next week. I hear the bottled water is horrendously expensive. I'd rather spend our money on wine and drink tap water, if it's safe!!!! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Drinking water is perfectly safe, it's the non-drinking water you have to avoid

I've never had any stomach problems drinking the tap water in France.

Bottled water is not horrendously expensive. Coca Cola is horrendously expensive. Tap water is fine--you can even ask for a carafe of it at a restaurant. The old drinking water adage is VERY VERY OLD.

I've lived in France and visit there every year and drink the tap water without worry - anywhere in the country. It actually has better water treatment than many American cities - the so-called ozonization (? term) method has been used for years now and many American cities, like mine, are just changing over.
A French person would become indignant if an American said they water was unsafe when it's probably safer than in the US.
That said, old pipes, perhaps with lead, in old hotels may be a reason that some drink bottled water - and bottled water in supermarkets, all over even in city centres, is very cheap - maybe 50 cents a liter but at cafes yes bottled water can cost as much as any drink - $3-4 a pop (in cafes or restaurants French are not aloof to ask for eau du robinet (?) or tap water and you'll get a carafe of it free. (At least my cheapskate French relatives!)

<<<I hear the bottled water is horrendously expensive.<<<
Depends where : for a pack of Chantereine - or Saint Cyr or Cristaline (ordinary bottled spring water) : 1.52 Euros for 6 X 1.5 liter in a supermarket - 0.80 for 1.5 liter Evian
Anyway, atp water is fine (it just may smell a bit of chlorine is some places during a heat wave)
Tap water is served in any restaurant

You could possibly have some minor problems getting used to the possibly different coliform levels in the local drinking water but it is highly unlikely you are going to get sick.

Where DO you live? It is very VERY possible that the water in France is SAFER than your own tap water.

Thanks for the feedback - alanRow - what do you mean by the "non-drinking water"???

Drinking water is just that - water you drink

Anything else is non-drinking water

re: "..Tap water is served in any restaurant..."

it isn't readily served as in the US. you most likely will need to request it.
"un carafe d'eau" is the phrase, I believe.

I don't know where you've heard that but bottled water is not "horrendously expensive" in the entire country of France.

Just buy it at a grocery store. Maybe in a restaurant if you order some fancy fizzy one, or at a tourist spot on a hot day, it may be more pricey, just like you'd expect anywhere.

Also it is not about whether the local water is "safe" or not, because it is. BUT when you travel things that are different than at home can cause intestinal problems. Bottled water is cheap insurance for feeling good on vacation imo.

If you are staying in a reasonable hotel, you can drink the water for free! If it is a run-down old place, I would buy the water as you don't know how the pipes are. It is not only the water but also the pipes in the building which determine the final thing you get. Ask if unsure. Some regions way out may not have good water. If there is a sign on the tap which says 'Non potable' that means the water is not for drinking.

Regarding suze's comment above, I suspect that if you only drink bottled water at home and during local travel, you might be wise to stick with bottled water in Europe. Not that it's unsafe, but I think those of us who drink tap water all the time everywhere are better able to adapt to whatever chemicals or substances might be in the water. If you only drink bottled water and suddenly switch to foreign tap water, it may indeed cause some minor intestinal or digestive upset.

Excellent point, Neapolitan--you beat me to it. We drink filtered water at home (our city's water tastes dreadful) and just stick to it while travelling as a precaution.

Well it's not quite that in my case. I do drink tap water at home (Seattle) along with filtered and/or bought bottled.

This was in Switzerland (of all places) where I was having some issues and my hosts suggested I stick with bottled water rather than their tap.

I'm not claiming expertise but if purchased bottled water keeps me from even minor stomach upsets on precious european vacation time... cheap insurance imo.

Related to this topic...I just read about 2 bottled waters, one from Italy and one from France that have tons of calcium. In fact one has 500mg of calcium.

One called Contrex (French) and other is San Faustino (Italy),(the latter is sparkling)...anyway, from now on I am going to order them. We are going to Italy and
France which will be better than my local grocery store
I think. Ordinairily we always order bottled water when dining,anyway so I may as well get the stuff with the calciium if the restaurant has it...

No, of course, you can't drink tap water in France. Didn't you know that it was a third world country? So, just like in Burkina Faso, only drink bottled water, and demand that they open it in front of you: you know how people are in developing countries, always wanting to take advantage of honest but naive American tourists...

Tap water is perfectly safe in France. And, bottled water is truly not "horrendously expensive".

Everything turns, however, on how much of it you consume, and your personal reaction to the local tap water.

I always drink bottled water when traveling.

You can purchase a small bottle and refill it with huge bottles from a grocery store, or just know where it's not so pricey.

I attended a week long seminar in New Jersey, where I swelled up astonishingly and others had much more severe reactions to the local tap water.

This paranoid "how safe is the water" question is a regular ocurrence on this forum. Once I read comments by an American who said he drank tap water only in European cities which had been bombed down in WWII, as the plumbing was supposedly newer there!

The only caveat (well-known by the local population)I would have concerning France is Brittany where locally the nitrates content of tap water can be above EEC legal standards due to the presence of intensive pork and poultry farming. I wouldn't worry about Paris.