Giantfan13 Posted August 3, 2009 #1 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Is the water OK to drink for say american's, while traveling thru the Baltics and Russia??. We have all heard stories about the water in ceetain counties, so how about the Baltics. We surely do not want to get sick from drinking the water, so has anyone experienced any problems. I would think America does certain things to it's water that possibly Europe doesn't. Any advice?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted August 3, 2009 #2 Share Posted August 3, 2009 It is probably just fine but maybe not what your body is use to. If worried take bottled water from the ship. We did drink the water in Russia at lunch without incident We buy bottled water in Florida:D Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suebee Posted August 3, 2009 #3 Share Posted August 3, 2009 It is probably just fine but maybe not what your body is use to.If worried take bottled water from the ship. We did drink the water in Russia at lunch without incident We buy bottled water in Florida:D Lyn Agreed. We had no trouble on our trip last week at all. But carrying bottled for your tour is a great idea so you have accessibility to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetcbl Posted August 3, 2009 #4 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Water from the tap or in pitchers on the table in St. Petersburg is not a good idea to drink for Westerners. Giardia (a parasite) is in the water system...it doesn't seem to bother the Russians, but can make others very ill, even six months after being exposed. Many river cruises supply bottled water to their passengers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaisatsu Posted August 3, 2009 #5 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Tap water is generally safe in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark) even for those who aren't used to it. Like in all cities sometimes the tap water has a less than pleasant flavor, but it's usually just fine. In fact, the Oslo tap water often beats the bottled spring water in blind taste tests here. This is a good thing since bottled water is pricey. A 500 ml bottle can easily cost $3.50, but since public drinking fountains aren't particularly common, you may want to carry your own refillable bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultima Thule Posted August 4, 2009 #6 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Helsinki tap water if of highest quality, it is considered "food" by the law and exceeds all the EU quality standards and recommendations, some of them by a hundred or a thousend fold. It is probably superior to any bottled water you could buy. http://www.helsinginvesi.fi/index.asp?language=2 (select: Activities / water production / water treatment ) Also I have used the Stockholm and Berlin tap water without any problem. However, there shouldnä't be any problem finding bottled water in the stores. In Helsinki for example you can buy 1 1/2 litre German made carbonated water for 95 eurocent at Lidl, western end of Kamppi shopping mall (bus station). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leejnd4 Posted August 4, 2009 #7 Share Posted August 4, 2009 We were told that tap water is perfectly fine for Americans in all the ports we visted EXCEPT Russia. We drank only bottled water in Russia. We stayed for four nights in Stockholm and drank tap water, and had no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave and Micha Posted August 4, 2009 #8 Share Posted August 4, 2009 It seems that everyone has you covered! :D Here in Germany the water is excellent, although here on the coast it has a bit of a smell so we drink bottled water. The two types offered are Sprudel = sparkling or Still - normal. One other point... when you buy bottled water or drinks from a store here in Germany there is a deposit on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giantfan13 Posted August 5, 2009 Author #9 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Glad to hear the good reports about the water. I guess I was more concerned with Americans drinking Euro water. I would assume Europeans have grown accustomed to their won water, while Americans may not have that tolerance. We will do the bottle route, especially in Russia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultima Thule Posted August 5, 2009 #10 Share Posted August 5, 2009 In Helsinki for example you can buy 1 1/2 litre German made carbonated water for 95 eurocent at Lidl, western end of Kamppi shopping mall (bus station). Make that 99 cent but it includes the 40 cent deposit. ;) Think the same bottle costed just 19 + 40 cent in Berlin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted August 5, 2009 #11 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Glad to hear the good reports about the water. I guess I was more concerned with Americans drinking Euro water. I would assume Europeans have grown accustomed to their won water, while Americans may not have that tolerance. We will do the bottle route, especially in Russia Really, the standards of sanitation in Europe, including Scandinavia, are very high. There is nothing to worry about.....it would be no different than drinking the water in California if you are from New York. For Russia, stick to bottled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tg_lindo Posted August 6, 2009 #12 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Ultima Thule's post makes a lot of sense... after drinking tap water in Netherlands and Denmark (both of which were as pleasing or more so than my local northern california H20), I remarked to myself that Helsinki tap water tasted a step above the others. "pure" and "clean" are the words that came to mind. I've repeated the experiment a couple times. Same results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare RachelG Posted August 7, 2009 #13 Share Posted August 7, 2009 We travel in western Europe all the time and always drink tap water. Never had any problems. However, Russia is not western Europe--definitely would drink bottled water there. And we stuck with bottled in Estonia as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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