Is tap water on Oahu safe for drinking?
 

Hi. Just had a quick thought before we leave for our trip in a few days. We are renting a house on Oahu near Kauula and wanted to know if we can use the tap water for drinking and meal preparation, or do we have to buy bottled water (like you do in St. John, USVI)? Any thoughts? Thanks

bluejeans

Yes. Drinking Water on Oahu is safe to drink. The drinking water quality is managed by the county and overseen by the HI Department of Health and I expect that it meets US federal water quality requirements for drinking water. Typically all municipal water systems in the US are safe to drink. Some don't taste so good, so people drink bottled water. Once in a while in municipalities in different parts of the country, there is a health concern and other provisions are made for drinking water. But my recollection of Oahu water is that it tastes fine. Have a great time on Oahu!
(I don't know what is up with the VI water, but as it is a territory and not a state, it may have different requirements)

I've never had any qualms about drinking the tap water in Oahu. How else are you going to make ice for those Mai Tai's and Lava Flows?

We Americans enjoy some of the world's safest drinking water yet we continue to buy bottled water.

Our water may be safe but some of it tastes downright awful. The water in Cincinnati, for example, is very hard and tastes so bad that not only can't you drink it you can't even make tea with it (coffee is strong enough to hide the taste). When there I order coffee for breakfast een though I'm normally a tea drinker in the AM. I always have bottled water there.

I've mentioned this to people who live there and they don;t understand - but I expect they're used to the taste.

I hope you are kidding. Yes, the water in Oahu is safe.

Oahu has really good water.

Thank you all for your responses. Maybe I didn't ask the right question, although I did get the answer I was looking for. I just wanted to make sure that if we made ice or cooked with the tap water, our digestive systems could handle it. USVI houses have cisterns that collect rainwater, which is then recycled throughout the house. Just wanted to make sure that was not the case in Hawaii. Taste is important too, so I'm glad you answered that for me too.

bluejeans

Oh, I see what you are asking. No, on Oahu they use a far more modern drinking water system that is typical of most urban areas. The City and County on each Hawaiian Island has a drinking water treatment system that serves the main are"as. I imagine there may be some remote parts of "the Big Island (Hawaii Island) that are off the drinking water service grid and use well water. I imagine that most of "the Main Island" (Oahu Island), especially in the areas you are likely to stay in or frequent, are on the municipal/county system. Perhaps given that Oahu has volcanic geology and USVI doesn't; this may be the reason for the different types of drinking water systems.

Have spent some time in Cincinnati, and I agree with nytraveler about that city's water. One can get used to the taste of it after a while, but it's not the most pleasant. If memory serves, they get their water out of the Ohio River, which may explain things.

Have also encountered some horrific tasting water in all parts of New Jersey I've visited, and I normally won't drink tap water if I'm there.

Thanks again. I appreciate everyone's input. We should be just fine. Can't wait!

bluejeans

Getting their water from the Ohio River doesn't explain a bad taste in Cincinnati. Louisville also uses the Ohio, and I heard recently that ours is the second best water in the world--the first is somewhere in France.

"Louisville also uses the Ohio, and I heard recently that ours is the second best water in the world"

I agree.

But the beer at the Golden Nugget on Hikes Lane is even better than Louisville water.

It's safe but I think it tastes pretty bad (at least in Waikiki where I've always stayed). I would not hesitate to use it for making ice, cooking, coffee, etc. but I do purchase bottled water for drinking myself.

Dusty, I had no idea! I used to live off Klondike Lane and passed the Golden Nugget daily; however, I preferred the hot fudge sundaes from Ehrler's, now sadly defunct but we do have Graeter's out of Cincinnati.

I lived on Brinkey Way right behind Golden Nugget.

Lived in Louisville from 1993-1996.

If you are concerned about taste, just buy a Brita or other filter. No need for bottled. Just leave it when you're done (or take home). Leave a note on it that housekeeping can have it.

Oahu has some of the best water in the country. It comes from artesian wells, and is not fluoridated.

Buy a Brita? Sorry but buying a Brita pitcher and the filters for it is WAY more expensive than buying bottled water for a few weeks vacation stay. Sure if I lived on Oahu, that's what I'd do.

But interesting that Dusty and lcuy say the water is wonderful. Like I said, I found it had a very strange taste (at least coming from the tap at the hotels I've stayed in).

Ok - we are back and here's my opinion. The tap water from our beach house was absolutely fine. It tasted very good and we used it for everything. I am happy to report that our tummies tolerated it very well. However, some of the restaurants' water was hit or miss. Some water tasted sort of fishy and others were fine. One Waikiki restaurant water was very fishy tasting, but the hotel water was ok. (We only stayed in Waikiki for one night.) I don't know why there was such a big difference if it all comes from the same place. Oh well, we just adjusted our water consumption accordingly and all went well. Mahalo to everyone for their input.

bluejeans