Why It Might Be A Good Idea To Avoid The Drinking Water On Planes

Eating and drinking on an airplane is a difficult game to play. While I've always found having a snack on a plane ride helps it go by quicker, the woes that come along with bad airline food are well-known and sometimes inescapable. However, the difference between generally unpleasant food and downright dangerous food is a big one. While it might come as a surprise, airplane water could also fall into the latter category, depending on your airline and physical condition.

The reason for this comes down to where that water comes from. Obviously, if you're flying on an airline that provides bottled water during flights, you don't have anything to worry about. However, in the event that you're drinking water from the airplane tap — or a drink like coffee or tea that is likely made with airplane tap water — you might be drinking water from an airplane's water tank. If this is the case, the safety of your water depends purely on how well-kept that water tank is, which is known to vary drastically depending on the individual plane and the airline it belongs to.

The danger regarding airplane water mostly comes down to the cleanliness of the tank in which it's stored. Some former flight attendants across the internet have warned against airplane tap water, as the water tank it's stored in is very rarely cleaned in a meaningful way. While protections have been put in place to try to ensure the water isn't actively contaminated, they haven't completely solved the problem of dirty water tanks across the board, and since drinking from a dirty water storage tank can prove disastrous if you have a compromised immune system or are prone to severe health problems, that might not be a risk you're willing to take.

So, the typical course of action among most consumers is to ask for bottled water or a different drink entirely while on the airplane. Despite other issues with water bottles themselves, this does ensure that you're not consuming any potentially dirty tap water on the plane ... except that's not entirely true. As I said earlier, the tea and coffee you order on the airplane are also made from the airplane's tap water. The good thing is that the water airlines use in both tea and coffee is heated up to a temperature that kills any potential bacteria present within it, with boiled water on airplanes being heated to 195 degrees Fahrenheit, 25 degrees more than the temperature that the dangerous bacteria dies at. Even so, it's unlikely to be anywhere close to the ideal cup of coffee or tea, and it might be best to steer clear of it regardless.