The Quality of Water In Poland. Should we boil and filter it?

OK, My husband and I recently moved to Warsaw. We have had people tell us not to drink the water without boiling it. Is this really true. On our first visits we drank the water all the time. I did notice this time the water has occasionally had a rusty or yellow hue to it. Should I be concerned? We did get tired of spending money on bottled water because we drink so much. Now we boil and filter the water.

Just smile really big and wave at it...should purify it fine ;)

But really test it if you are concerned. I drink both from tap and bottles.

If the locals say boil it then i guess its a good idea , better to be safe than sorry....I get my water from a well , and i don,t have any problem , not had it checked or anything , but i let some of my Polish friends try it first , and nobody died....Can you maybe get some kind of filter for your water system , or maybe get it checked to see if it is safe to drink..? Why do people say you should boil it , is it due to bacteria , or something else..?

Hmmm now I am doubting your background ;) You should know this....

Boiling is to kill microorganisms and does nothing for contamination or non organic stuff like chemicals or rust.

Ha...yes i know all the reasons for boiling water in the wild , but i just wonder why people in Warsaw think its needed...surely its not legal to provide unsafe drinking water....

Just giving you grief...

I have heard from Poles since the first day I was here not to drink from the tap. I don't know if this is an urban legend, a hold over from the times it wasn't safe, or if they really do know its bad.

I have heard it too...but i have never seen any proof its actually unsafe...You would think that the water companies have a legal obligation to provide safe water....even in Poland...

Same here, I get my water from a sealed well on my property. My well has 4 natural springs at the bottom of it and is clean, plentiful, and tasty as can be! The good thing is, there are no other houses around my entire property.

For those of you who live in Warszawa, I would like to tell you something. If you ever saw what some of the residents around my area discharge into the local stream, you might possibly vomit. Does the word 'szambo' ring a bell? Our stream eventually ends up in the Wisla River, which then flows to Warszawa, and into the water filter and chlorine mechanism there. Could that be the source of the yellow hue in your tap water? You were warned. Hate to spoil your next cup of tea. Just joking! :-) It could be rusty plumbing?

I am aware that some of the rivers in Poland are very polluted , but then some in the UK are not so clever either...I guess the question is...how well do they clean the water before pumping it to your taps....?

It's that. Every month when they shut the water off unexpectedly at dinner time to change some pipe it takes a few hours after to flush the yellow/orange rust out and return to the clear normal flow.

polandian.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/myth-8-polish-water-is-safe-to-drink/

What a great site..thanks for that...so seems like Polish water being unsafe is more of an urban myth than a fact....

We drink tap water all the time, We live in the "green" area of Poland though... no harm done yet!

i drink the aquafer water. there is a website somewhere to find the locations here in warsaw. the water only lasts for two days though

I know that many locals in Warszawa get the Zdroj (aquifer) water and boil it for use in their tea. They also tend to drink bottled water, the issue I have with this is it is all Mineral Water and often has carbonation. The reason they do not drink the tap water is that it has some fairly high traces of chemicals used to purify it and tastes a bit chlorinated. It has nothing to do with sanitation rather it has to do with the taste.

Thank you all for your help! I appreciate the feedback. After we boil, we put our drinking water in a Britta pitcher with the filter in it. It doesn't taste bad, it's just not great. I use lemon in my water a lot of times. We were really spoiled because our water came from a really clean aquifer where we lived in South Texas. I do miss that water!

I've been living in Warsaw for 12 years and drinking tap water all that time. The water here is fine.

Anybody with any doubts about the quality of water in Warsaw needs to pay a visit to the filtration plant on ul Filtry. It's open saturdays from June to September and a very ineresting place.

I used to teach at the IMGW. This is the place where they test the water. The scientists told me do not drink the tap water at all.

Thats because they are Polish and all Poles have bought into that no matter what they truly know. It's like getting a Zameldowania...msot people will say they cant register you because then they can't sell the house as if you have some rights to it....this is total nonsense but they are convinced it is true and will not believe otherwise no matter what.

I wouldnt be surprised if the water tests fine but they are still not willing to accept it.

i wouldn't drink the tap water in Poland... actually anywhere, i don't trust it...

This is fear that companies selling water have capitalized on..maybe in the past it wasnt safe here but now its fine. In the US it is fine to drink all over.

A third world country is worth worrying about but not the modern world.

In fact look up some tests of bottled water...lots of brands just fill from the same water system the public uses. It is not some miraculous healing water touched by god or something.

man i got the word straight from the scientists who perform the test. how can you possibly not believe that?

Because even smart people buy into myths and I know how Poles are with their wive's tales. You can show them proof to the contrary and they still insist.

Is this because of the disgusting things fish do in it....?

I don't drink the tap water where I live cos it tastes awful and I live in a very nice upmarket town where everyone buys bottled water to drink LOL. And that's in the UK !

:)

I have been drinking tap water since I arrived...I amn't dead yet.

its more like a slow poisoning versus a sudden death

Poles are so paranoid about this issue that the cousin;s of my wife even use bottled water to boil veg. When I drank out of the tap in their house, they pronoounced me dead there and then. Im sure I saw a herse pu;; up outside.

Have you ever tried asking for a jug of tap water in a restaurant?? If not give it a go and insist on it, they give the strangest looks.

Well, there are several sides of the clean water equation. Unchlorinated water can contain unsafe and infectious bacteria. Water that is chlorinated can be considered by some to be dangerous in itself, due to the presence of chlorine. You might wish to read this [treatmenttech.net/site/residential-reionators/how-safe-is-chlorinated-water/] article about chlorinated water.

I personally know from drinking tap water all over the world that yes, in different places there is different types and levels of bacteria in tap water. However if you don't mind a day or two of stomach problems you build up the antibodies to fight them, and there you go...free drinking water!