Questions about tap water in everyday life

The price per liter of tap water depends on the area you live in. Based on our experience, our estimate is that the average cost is 0.5 cents per liter of tap water. This includes fresh / safe to drink water and sewage water per household. If we only account for fresh water, our estimate is at about 0.2 cents per liter. If you are curious about your price per liter, you can check out your water bill – keep in mind that the amount of water used is usually shown in cubic liters (1000 liter / 264 gal)

If every party of the household consumes 1.5 liters of non-carbonated water per day, 365 days a year, we have 1642 liters per year (1.5L * 3 persons * 365 = 1642L per year). At around 70 cents per liter (average price of one of the most popular mineral waters), the cost is about 1.149€ – just for the water. If everyone in the household were to drink tap water at our assumption of 0.5 cents per liter, you could save more than 1.000€ every single year.

You should use vinegar or critic acid: In the bathroom, you can use it on your tiles, tapware and your bath tub. Let it sink in for a few minutes and clean it up with clean water. You’ll find more tips in our Better Water Video about limestone.

From a health perspective, you normally don’t need to filter your tap water, because it is already required to be low on pollutants. The German regulators are strictly measuring the water quality and have tight standards in place for public tap water. Even children and sick people do not need to use filtrated water. If used or set up improperly, a private water conditioner may even worsen the quality of your tap water. For more details, see our Better Watter Video about water filters – or altenatively, the German consumer advice center (Verbraucherzentrale)

You should pay attention to always drink fresh tap water. It makes sense to let your tap run for a bit if you haven’t used your tap in a long while. In the morning or after a vacation, for example, you can let your tap run until the water doesn’t get any colder. This way you know that you’re getting fresh water. Just hold your finger under the running water to check the temperature. Depending on your apartment, it may take one or two minutes. After that, you’ll get nice and fresh water.