Is the water from the tap in Portugal drinkable? The locals say so. What do we think? Well, let’s say we always have a couple of 5-litre bottles when we’re there.
How good is Portuguese tap water?
The water from the tap in Portugal is absolutely safe to drink. It is not like forty years ago, when you saw signs saying “não potable” everywhere at the faucets at your holiday destination.
Portugal has had a very good supply of water for quite some time now. But how good and especially how tasty is the water from the tap in the Lisbon region?
The Portuguese claim that their tap water is the best water in Europe. While it is definitely safe to drink, how good the taste is on the other hand is another matter.
A lot of chlorine
The water you get from the tap in Portugal in general and in the Lisbon region in particular contains a lot of chlorine, more than we are used to. The water is certainly drinkable here in Portugal, you won’t get sick of it in terms of bacteria. But tasty, no, that’s certainly not the word we would use to describe it. They add too much chlorine for that. Not only do you taste it, you can even smell it.
If you cook it to use for tea or coffee, or to prepare food, you won’t really notice it contains that much chlorine. If you take some straight from the tap because you’re thirsty however, that’s a different story.
The Portuguese can say their tap water is the best in the world all day long, we prefer to have a couple of large bottles of spring water around!
