Is Paris Tap Water Safe To Drink?

Yes, tap water is drinkable.

Tap Safe includes data from many publicly available sources, including the WHO (World Health Organization), CDC (Center for Disease Control), and user submitted databases, but unfortunately there's not enough data about Paris.

To see user submitted ratings of the water quality for France, see the "User Submitted Ratings" box on this page.

Can you drink the tap water in Paris France? Yes, tap water here is safe to drink. Most Parisians are completely comfortable drinking and using water every day.

If you are out for dinner, you may request a “caraffe d’eau” instead of bottled water, which can be expensive. The waiter will serve you a pitcher of tap water that is safe to drink. Perhaps you’ll notice a faint chloral smell or taste but don’t worry about it, it is clean and safe!

Locals suggest that you bring your bottle and use the publicly available water sources. Paris has many fountains that provide free freshwater; these provide a great alternative for those who want to avoid plastic waste or save money on buying water.

Source of Water in Paris, France

Half of the drinking water needs in Paris and regions come from the Seine. The other half comes from aquifers and aqueducts.

The drinking water system is supplied mainly by reservoirs located at sites around Paris. The areas of distribution can vary from time to time because of certain constraints in the production process.

• The Montsouris reservoir – (203,000 m³) supplies Paris with water from the Vanne and Loing aqueducts.
• The Ménilmontant and Lilas reservoirs, the Belleville and Montmartre reservoirs and tanksHay-les-Roses – (300,000 m³) supplies Paris with water from the Joinville plant and the reservoir (229,000 m3) supplies water from the Orly plant.
• The Saint-Cloud reservoir – (355,000 m³) supplies water from the Avre aqueduct.

Paris Tap Water

If you have ever stopped to wonder how tap water in Paris is so clean, one answer is to check out the municipal plumbing system that serves the city. The city has one of the best reputations for public health in the world, so you can be sure that your tap water there is as clean as it can possibly get. The city also uses a very high quality filtration system that takes out the chlorine from your water. This helps to ensure that you have cleaner water than most cities can offer, even those that treat their water to remove chlorine.

Some of the parts of tap water that comes into your home may come from reservoirs outside of Paris. While these reservoirs are used to store the water for the entire city, some homes still use the same water supply that has been in your kitchen for years. While bottled water should not be thought of when you’re on a budget, the bottled water is incredibly expensive and shouldn’t be considered unless you’re truly on a tight budget. If you have concerns about drinking contaminated water, you can use a purifier to remove impurities from the reservoir supplies that are around your home. The wait staff is always expected to serve you drinking water, and yet you may see a little bit of a chloral flavor or smell from the supply.

While you don’t need to worry about the safety of your drinking water supply in Paris, you do need to keep an eye on it when you’re around the city. While it’s easy to be happy that you don’t have to travel any distance to get the bottled water you want, you don’t want to take any chances with your health. While you won’t be worried about Paris tap water when you’re in the city, you should make sure that the water supply you’re using is good enough to give you a lifetime of safe water.

Paris Water Quality

Paris is one of the world’s top tourist destinations and to guarantee you have a pleasurable stay there, you’ll need to find the right hotel accommodation that offers Paris water quality. This might seem like a trivial matter but it is a very important one. You’ll be using the city’s water every day and therefore, you want the supply to be pure so you won’t be risking your health by consuming impure water. It is also important for the environment because water is distributed all over the world through water pipes.

There are many things you can do in order to ensure you are getting pure water. You can install an ultra-violet light in your bathroom if you have a sauna, and not just to reduce the risk of getting skin cancer but as part of improving the quality of the water. You can also make use of drinking water filters made from activated carbon, which has the ability to absorb a large number of contaminants. So, even though it may be tempting to go for sparkling clean water from the tap, you’ll be better off replacing it with something of better quality.

If you’re staying somewhere like the Eiffel Tower or the Palais de Justice in Paris, you will have to filter your own water to ensure it doesn’t contain any contaminants. You can buy special purifiers for residential use, which come with an attached storage tank so you don’t need to constantly replace your bottles. If you feel you cannot filter your own water at home, you can always buy a system that will give you excellent quality water throughout the day from one central point.

Paris Tap Water Safety

The news that there might be traces of dangerous lead in our drinking water had everyone in Paris a little nervous, but with the amount of money that French energy companies are willing to spend on filtering their tap water, it seems that Paris tap water safety is out of the question. These news stories typically highlight one or two families in a town where the tap water quality is deemed “safe”, but you have to ask yourself why would they do that? What’s to prevent them from buying another house and starting a new problem all over again?

You see, there are actually multiple sources of lead poisoning that Paris residents are concerned about. This includes but is not limited to, the use of pharmaceutical drugs, the improper handling of surgical wounds, lead paint and its consumption by children via drinking water. All these things can potentially cause some pretty serious health risks for people, and no one should have to take those chances. The question of Paris tap water safety is more than just whether or not there might be traces of lead in the water, but also if any of this water is actually clean enough to drink.

The city of Paris is in the process of installing new municipal water pipes that will bring cleaner water into the city, but how long will that take? Some say it could take up to 40 years, but that also depends on how much groundwater the city has been extracting for that purpose. It seems like the longer it takes to get this city’s water system up and running, the more problems we’re going to have to face regarding the safety of our own water. There’s a lot of debate as to whether or not this new municipal water filtration system is even worth the money, so do yourself a favor and check it out for yourself.

Other Sources:

• Water in Paris a Public Service
• Paris Authorities Insist That It Is OK to Drink the City’s Tap Water
• Drinking-Water or Non-Potable Water
• https://www.lonelyplanet.com/france/paris/health

Tap water in Paris is safe to drink, although many Parisians prefer to buy bottled water.

Eating out in Paris can be expensive. However don't believe people when they say you can't do Paris on the cheap - you can! The key is to stay away from the beaten tracks and the obviously expensive Champs Elysées. Around the lesser visited quarters especially, there are many cheap and yummy restaurants to be found. The key is to order from the prix-fixe menu, and not off the A la Carte menu unless you want to pay an arm and a leg. In many places a three course meal can be found for about €15. This way you can sample the food cheaply and is usually more "French". Ask for "une carafe d'eau" (oon karaaf doe) to get free tap water.