How good Swiss water is and in which countries you can drink Hahnenburger

Tap water is considered the most controlled and monitored food in Switzerland. The approximately 2,500 water companies guarantee that almost 100 percent of households and industrial companies are always supplied with impeccable, fresh drinking water.

The treated ground, lake and spring water that comes from our tap at home, like any natural product, contains various trace substances and does not always taste the same, but can be drunk anywhere without hesitation. This is guaranteed by the legal regulations of the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs (BLV).

However, not every country has such strict guidelines as in Switzerland. Anyone who feels thirsty while traveling should therefore think carefully about whether he really wants to consume the tap water in the country in question – or whether it is better not to. But how can travelers be really sure that they can safely drink tap water?

The US health authority Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regularly assesses water quality for all countries around the world and makes the data available on its website. In 175 countries, tourists are not allowed to drink tap water. In addition to popular travel destinations such as Thailand or South Africa, this also includes some countries in Europe, such as Bulgaria, Albania and Turkey.

However, in most other European countries, tap water is safe to drink. The water quality is also sufficiently high in the US and Canada. However, the water often has a very different taste than we are used to in Switzerland. In most cases this is due to the chlorine content. It cannot be ruled out that there are more places where tap water is drinkable. However, the CDC expressly advises against this.

The renowned Yale University in New Haven (Connecticut) takes a more scientific approach to assessing drinking water quality in its Environmental Performance Index (EPI). This is an attempt to quantitatively present and compare the ecological performance balance of states using various indicators.

One of these indicators is drinking water quality. This is determined on the basis of the number of years of life lost per 100,000 people (DALY percentage) as a result of exposure to unsafe drinking water. A value of 100 indicates the highest quality drinking water, 0 is the lowest.

The 10 countries achieving the highest value include Austria, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and Great Britain, as well as Switzerland. Germany, on the other hand, barely misses the 100 mark.

Of the 178 countries assessed, Niger performed the worst. Some countries with also poor infrastructure, such as North Korea, Syria, Libya, South Sudan or Ethiopia, were not evaluated. Yale University does not specify the threshold at which tap water becomes drinkable or no longer drinkable.