Drinking Tap Water in S’pore: Is it Really Clean and Safe?

Last Updated on 2021-09-28 , 2:48 pm

Anyone who has been through NS will know this: drinking water means drinking tap water.

There’s no difference whatsoever. In fact, people who have been through the army in our office would usually just top up their water bottles with tap water since it’s relatively faster.

Let’s get the records straight first: is tap water REALLY safe to drink?

The simple answer is a resounding “yes”: PUB has, in their website, mentioned that they have “put in place a comprehensive and robust sampling and monitoring programme to verify the water quality, from source to tap, in order to ensure that water supplied is safe for consumption.”

Any Singaporean would know how safe it is as well. It’s common for people to drink direct from taps.

So that leaves us with a burning question: if so, why are some people still boiling water?

In a TODAYonline article, it is stated that research and survey show that at least 20% of Singaporean households still boil their tap water before drinking it. There are two explanations to this.

Firstly, the older generation has been through days when tap water wasn’t safe to consume then—they had to then boil the water before drinking it. Even up to today, that habit remains and sometimes, they’re passed down to the younger generation.

The second reason, weird as it may sound, is that some people think boiled water tastes better. This is very subjective, but let’s face it: water is tasteless, so it could well be a psychological effect.

Whatever is the case, you just need to know this: while it’s safe to drink tap water in Singapore, it might not be so in other countries.

So learning how to boil water is still, well, an essential skill.

But the short answer? Drink tap water if you want. Your stomachache is probably caused by your dirty container and not the water itself.

Featured Image: sonsart / Shutterstock.com