Tap water is perfect ! go for it !

So far no problems, but recently some people are mentioning Geneva water is not as good as we think...

"some people"...?

I'm very concerned as I drink tap water every day. Care to disclose your source for this? it's very important  to usif it's true.

Otherwise you're just spreading misinformation and concern... 

it was written in the 20 minutes a little while ago or just do some research youself and do not panic, we are still all alive. So far. Lol

The tap water used to be excellent... in 2011

http://www.sig-ge.ch/clients/particuliers/mes-services-en-ligne/documents/qualite_eau_2011_english.pdf

You really need to visit africa or sahara desert

where does  Africa and sahara come in!¨¨¨¨¨¨¨! Reply accordingly.

Not to mention all the essential minerals that tap water contains !

OMG! OMG!  I read the "20 Minutes", that known source of serious and dependable info... 

I think I'll stick with vodka & cranberry juice for the time being...

The question was

Is Geneva water safe or do you drink bottled water?

what has your answer to do with Africa or Sahara - have you forgotten who stole from the African Continent. Who had Africa as a Colony and stole most of the possesions they had like Diamonds, Gold etc.

Please reply accordingly

A very judicious choice regarding vodka; however, cranberry juice is more recommended in the context of female hormones rhythm, just saying..... 

What a ridiculous post. Nothing to do with the topic.

well many have looked carefully and it's a fact I hardly qualify as female... I'll keep mixing both

This question is surprising. Switzerland probably has one of the best tap water in the world. Remember, we are in a region that exports water all over the world. E.g. Evian, which is just down the road from here.

Note that there are stricter regulations about tap water quality than there are for bottled water. (In CH and many other countries, including FR and US). Some tests have discovered more contaminants in bottled water than in tap water.

Using bottled water is literally throwing money down the drain, in addition to polluting the environment. If you find that there’s a smell of chlorine in the water, put it in an open bottle in the fridge for a night.

BTW, this also is true for France. You can check the quality of your local water on http://www.sante.gouv.fr/resultats-du-controle-sanitaire-de-la-qualite-de-l-eau-potable.html . The French medical association has recommends tap water in a public statement.

Thus, there’s no risk in drinking tap water. At least unless the French start fracking in this area, which seems to become quite probable.

Last time I heard about cranberry, it was in relation to the prostata. I.e. it might also be interesting for males. So you can safetly keep mixing it in your vodka.

If you rely on your water for your minerals, then you've got a diet problem.. ;)

Here is a study by SIG on the Quality of Water for drinking in Geneva.

http://www.sig-ge.ch/clients/particuliers/mes-services-en-ligne/documents/qualite_eau_2011_english.pdf

And look at the 8 tips, very useful like the suggestion of storing in a carafe.

Note that in 2011, SIG carried out over 98,500 test on the quater of water. 35 official water testers, 100 customer testers.

In 2011 no 'zero' trace of Bacteria that could effect your health as per the Food Inspection authority. SIO 17025 certified, independant verification.

Geneva Water is considered one of the healthyest and safest in the world. As per the WHO

Further considered better quality than most bottled water which cost 1000times more expensive that tap water.

Then check out this emmision on RTS tv,

http://www.rts.ch/emissions/abe/test/4393301-l-eau-du-robinet-le-test.html

http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/eau-potable-geneve-tres-haute-surveillance/story/16634657

http://www.sig-ge.ch/echo-citoyen/moins-et-mieux-consommer/boire_l_eau_de_geneve

http://www.20min.ch/ro/news/suisse/story/15041369

De la chimie au robinet

Nombre de produits chimiques retrouvés dans l'eau potable:

Lausanne: 14
Renens: 13
Liestal: 9
Zurich: 8
Delémont: 7
Frauenfeld: 7
Aarau: 5
Mendriso: 4
Lucerne: 3
Bâle: 3
Berne: 2
Neuchâtel: 2
Genève: 1
Locarno: 0
Bellinzone: 0
Saint-Imier:0
Appenzell: 0
Saint-Gall: 0

Hey I have news for you, I do not have a diet problem,,, non mais ?

One issue with water, anywhre in the world is if the delivery pipes that are older and far from the water station, there is always more chance of contamination ,

So more often the Villages have the bigger issues, but in switzerland, the quality is still top, so if you compare the traces they might have in the top worst cities in Switzerland, they are minut compared to places like other. And was is great is the low clorine count that is added to disinfect, compared to countries who use this as a cheapest/low tech way to clean the water.

but usually is mineral contamination & heavy metals. Not Bacteria, polutants or pesicides.

Imagine that SIG Geneva test up to 98,500 times a year, = 270times a day or 11times an hour= once every 5 minutes.

I will not buy Bottled water again, except bubbly water/Gaseous.

For 3 main reasons,

1) its 1/1000 of the price (1000 times less expensive that bottled water)

2) I dont have to carry the bottled water from store to home.

3) Plastic bottles polute, not just when throwing away, but the production has many toxic chemicals, plastic sucks for the envirornment.

Tap water here is perfectly safe. And it's under so much controls, that if it ever becomes un-safe we'll all hear about it very quickly.

I have found that some beer quality has more contamints that Geneva Water.

But German beer and Swiss Beer is the Purist in the world. Due to German Purity Laws of 1516.

so no dietary problems for me, I have all the carbos I need from BEER

Jilette:

A whole bunch of crap is dumped into the lake daily by a whole bunch of people, but the water goes through serious cleaning (and testing) before it ends up in your tap.

So I wouldn't take the ash article as an indication of an issue.

If it was industrial quantity chemical dumping, that's another thing.

 calcium-enriched tap water is luxury! those Zürcher gnomes... 

So much fuss over tap water, you people should be bloody gratefull to even have tap water, strewth !!!

I have drunk water coming down from the mountains numerous times in which hypothetically there could be the carcass of a dying animal rotting away in it and i'm still around.

So take that Evian !!!  

Thank you....... we will

[residents of Evian]

Interesting question Rson N that as a consumer you are clearly entitled to raise. Read below please:

En tant que consommateur, vous pouvez demander le bilan qualitatif de l'eau potable pour la région qui vous intéresse.

Le distributeur d'eau concerné n'a pas encore introduit ses données sur notre site? Pas de problème: appelez l'administration de la commune concernée, laquelle vous mettra en relation avec le distributeur compétent.

Avec nos salutations les meilleures

Société Suisse de l'Industrie du Gaz et des Eaux

Anton Kilchmann, directeur

http://qualitedeleau.ch/francais/pagesnav/frames.htm

It is actually the lake who feeds the Rhone. Looks like you were on the wrong side of the road... sorry, meant Rhone

Some people here need some urgent geography and logics lessons. The lake of Geneva or lac Léman is of course fed by the Rhone which is fed by the Glaciers as pointed out by Jilete.

About the question, this can be felt as an insult by Swiss natives. The tap water you drink in Geneva is of the purest in Europe. The only problem which is widespread is the micropollutants which can hardly be filtered by the water epuration centres. 

However if you drink mineral water you get also micropollutants coming from the plastic bottle and this is not ecological.

As I live in Ferney since 2 years and the water has tons of chlorine I am forced to drink bottled water, though. Even French do, because they don't trust their own water. But at the office in  Geneva I have excellent tap water.

Hope this clarifies.

Some people need to take themselves less seriously.

The lake has many tributaries other than the Rhone which is merely a torrent when it enters the lake.  When it exits it takes more water from the lake than it brings. When most people refer to the Rhone they mean the lower course after the lake Geneva. So how is my statement incorrect?

Yes, this is correct, but saying that is is actually the lake which feeds the Rhone wasn't. 

It's not about taking oneself too seriously but just about giving the right information.

Rson (the original poster):

So with one simple yes-or-no question, you received answers about stealing from Africa, a geography lesson, a word about not asking about water here cos it might insult the Swiss, and more.

Imagine what would have happended if you asked a deeper question! (-;

Nir

Oh Rson, just go quench your thirst......

I would have already died of dehydration if I had to read all these responses

reka believe me I wouldnt want to drink water from Hungary, would go straight to the shops and buy bottled water.

Thank you for trying to explain but apparently you dont know that I can read and understand whats written. The original Thread opener didnt want to know anything about Africa, just wanted some infos on tap water in Geneva. So why does Africa has to come in.

Lots of people are in here running away from poverty in their own countries but they love to relate to Africa forgetting the horrible conditions in their countries.

We have Hungarian family, so found the posting somewhat negative. May we ask why? We spent time in Budapest with no ill effects, having drunk the tap water.

Hi sheila - well I also found the posting from reka to be negative for I have family in South Africa who drink tap water daily with no ill effects and I also drank African water daily till I came to live in Switzerland more than 30 years ago and I didnt have any ill effects.

Nothing against Hungarian people Im sure they are great and respectful people. Merry Xmas and have peace during this Advent season.

Hamba Gahle!

Apart from exceptional cases, tap water is perfectly drinkable in the whole Western Europe.

Please don't buy mineral water which 1) is bad for the environment 2) is ridiculously expensive 3) is cumbersome to transport and 4) is not guaranteed to be healthier.

When you go to the restaurant, ask for tap water ("une carafe d'eau s'il vous plaît") instead of mineral water.

Alternative Solution:

Here in France, which is only 12 kms from the CH border in one direction, 15 kms across to Lausanne by boat, and 37 kms in the other direction, our local restaurant AUTOMATICALLY produces a caraffe of tap water beofre we order.

Thats sweet sheila - please allow me some correction.

Hamba kahle - correct version.

In anycase Im not going anywhere. This shows me that you are not ignorant and feel comfortable learning other people's languages. Well you made my day

Have you spoken to any Valaisan recently?

The official measurements for ferney indicate quite a low level of chlorine in Ferney. However, if that is still too much, then you should put water in the fridge (in an open bottle) overnight. This should be healthier, both for your wallet and for the environment.

The fact that French buy bottled water has little to do with the current quality of tap water than traditions (the water used to be worse), that French overall have been much less preoccupied with ecology (it's improving though) and that they're evidently more susceptible to marketing.

I live in the neighbouring commune to Ferney (Ornex) and have no objections to the tap water.

BTW, when did you last see a Frenchy in Ferney, I thought there were only expats like us there.

Sheila@

'Here in France is only 12 km form the CH boarder?' Sorry but france is right next to CH boarder, there is not space between boarders, it just a boarder.

In Switzerland, just ask for a Caraffe and its free 99.9% of the time except at like McDo

water/milk.... eeeugh....

"Boarder" is someone you have in your house. Think you mean "border" and if so that is where WE live

Excellent response!!!

Have a look to www.rts.ch, « le guichet d’on en parle ». You’ll find a bunch of questions&answers concerning water. Some examples:

Q: Bonjour, habitant en plein centre ville de lausanne, j’ai réguliéreent une eau qui sort de couleur brune/verte et qui ne sent vraiment pas bon, il est bien évient que je ne la bois pas mais représente-t-elle nénmoins un risque ? Ne serait ce que pour prendre une douche Merci d’avance

R: Cette situation n’est évidemment pas acceptable. La source du problème est selon toute vraisemblance dans le bâtiment. Si vous êtes locataire, il faut vous adresser au propriétaire, qui est responsable des installations de distribution d’eau dans le bâtiment. L’eau fournie doit être irréprochable. Il doit le cas échéant procéder aux assainissements nécessaires.

Q: Merci pour cette fenêtre ouverte sur la fragilité de notre eau quotidienne, créée en grande partie par l’appât du gain de l’industrie, par l’agriculture, etc… car presque tout ce que nous consommons y retourne, non? Les lois ne doivent-elles pas être plus contraignantes quant à l’utilisation généralisée de centaines d’additifs dangereux, formant ces cocktails auxquels on ne peut plus échapper ???

R: Je pense effectivement que les lois pourraient être plus contraignantes. Ceci est d’ailleurs en train de se mettre en place au niveau européen, et partiellement en Suisse. C’est d’abord la directive européenne REACH qui vise à évaluer de manière beaucoup plus stricte les substances mises sur le marché afin d’éviter que l’on vende des substances qui présentent un risque. C’est ensuite par la mise en place d’un réseau de surveillance des eaux avec des valeurs limites légales pour ces polluants (Directive cadre sur l’eau).

BRITA  water filters should eliminate the effects chlorine makes when present in tap water - www.brita.ch.

Hope this helps.

Yes, partly true. But what about the filters? I could not find any shop which had a Brita filters' collector and was forced to throw the used filters to the bin which is not ecological either.

Does anyone have a solution?

I think you can get Brita filters from Migros, Fust, and/or Manor. But in the service/customer service section, just ask.

Have a look to www.rts.ch, « le guichet d’on en parle ». You’ll see questions&answers concerning water filters such as Brita.

Q: Laisson tomber la question du coût comparé entre eau de robinet et eau en bouteilles. La question est: quelle est la salubrité de l eau filtrée par un système genre Britta sachant que, chaque jour, ce filtre (à changer tous les mois) se charge d impuretés. 2e question: l eau gazeuse en bouteilles est-elle, oui ou non, exempte de germes?