The Truth About Drinking Tap Water in Positano: Facts and Myths Revealed

Ever wondered whether it’s safe to sip from the tap while soaking up the stunning coastal views of Positano, Italy?

This comprehensive guide answers that burning question and delves into the cultural intricacies surrounding Italy’s longstanding tradition of serving bottled water.

But first the short answer, it’s generally safe to drink tap water in Positano, Italy. However, locals and tourists often prefer bottled water due to taste preferences and past minor issues with water supply contamination.

Find out why locals and tourists alike might prefer bottled over tap, understand past contamination issues, and get to grips with practical tips for quenching your thirst during your Amalfi Coast adventure.

Read on to debunk misconceptions, get valuable travel tips, and ensure you stay hydrated in Positano with ease and confidence.

Why Do they Serve Bottled Water in Italy?

If the tap water in Italy is safe to drink, you may be wondering why restaurants almost exclusively serve bottled water, either still or sparkling (naturale or frizzante), with their meals. There are several reasons behind this practice, many of which are cultural.

Bottled Water Tastes Better

While the tap water is perfectly safe to drink in Positano, there is no denying that much like other coastal areas in Italy; the tap water tends to have a funky taste.

Therefore, when dining in Positano, servers may be reluctant to bring you tap water, despite your requests, because they are afraid it will detract from your overall dining experience.

Whether you are dining in one of the more elegant restaurants in Positano or simply requesting a glass of water to go with your morning coffee at a small shop, the server is more than likely going to bring you a glass and fill it from a bottle, rather than drawing it from the tap. 

While most Americans have adopted a sustainable mindset and do not like the idea of putting so many plastic bottles in the waste, many Italian restaurants will meet your requests for tap water with concern and/or outright defiance.

Hygienic Culture

Italy is known for being one of the most fashion-forward and trendy areas of the world. With this comes greater concern for hygiene and personal maintenance than is typical in most parts of the world.

While there is certainly nothing unhygienic about drinking the tap water in Positano, the local mindset is one of general aversion to drinking the same water as is used for showering and cleaning the dishes.

Therefore, many Italian people simply prefer to drink bottled water as opposed to tap water as a matter of custom, giving rise to the practice of serving bottled water with meals at Italian restaurants. This may make it seem that tap water is unsafe to drink.

Past Contamination Concerns

Many older Italians have little faith in the sanitation and purification systems used by the public water system, as they have lived through a couple of past contamination issues.

While water cleanliness has been compromised at various points in time in countries all around the world, the practice of drinking bottled water stuck with the Italian people, especially considering the taste is preferable to the tap water they had previously drunk.

In turn, they passed the habit of drinking bottled water down to posterity, and the practice is still prevalent to this day.

The Tap Water is Hard

The tap water in Italy has a much higher calcium content than in other parts of the world.  This is particularly noticeable for cultures that consume a significant amount of tea or coffee, as these beverages appear almost chalky when finished brewing.

In addition, the hard Italian water leaves a noticeable residue in coffee makers and teapots, making the cleaning of these devices that much more of a chore.

As such, it is preferable for most in Italy to simply use bottled water to avoid these hassles.

Bottled Water is Trendy

Like smoking was once considered a trendy and attractive feature for movie stars in America, drinking bottled water, especially some of the more prominent brands of mineral water, such as Ferrarelle or San Pellegrino, is considered a “cool” thing to do in Italy.

However, while the country had placed this importance of being trendy over the environmental concerns of disposing of millions of water bottles annually, Italy has recently stepped up its efforts to offer filtered water in place of bottled water in some locations, allowing environmentally conscious citizens to refill their reusable water bottles or hydroflasks when given the opportunity.

Best Practices for Drinking Water in Positano

Although the tap water in Positano is safe for tourists to drink, you may be one of those people with whom different tap water does not agree. As such, there are several things you should know.

Pack a Filter, if You Can

This may seem like a no-brainer, especially if different water sources typically give you an upset stomach. However, there is often only so much luggage you can take when traveling abroad, so if you know you may have issues with the local tap water, or just want to be super cautious, make a water filter one of those precious items you pack for use at your apartment or hotel.

The price of purchasing bottled water in Positano can be more expensive than what you are used to paying at home, seeing that there is a great demand for it and the fact that it is a major tourist attraction along the Amalfi Coast. Bringing a water filter along on your vacation may be inconvenient, but it can save you some serious change over time.

Bottled Water is Not a Restaurant Scam

Italy is notorious for tricking customers into an up-charged bill through a variety of restaurant scams. However, bottled water is not one of them.

While most restaurants certainly will not complain about the extra they make in bottled water sales, they are not trying to mislead you into thinking that the tap water is unsafe to drink. As mentioned above, drinking bottled water is a deeply cultural practice in Italy, and restaurants want you to have the best experience possible by serving water that tastes good.

Look at Labels

While the practice of consuming bottled water is not a scam in and of itself, there are some unethical people who try to make their own little scam by putting filtered water into a bottle and trying to spin it as mineral water.

When consuming and paying for bottled water in any public space in Positano, make sure that the label is recognizable. Even if you are not familiar with the brand, a good label should have the mineral content and source of the water.

If you are served water in a green bottle without a label, do not pay for it as bottled water, as you are likely dealing with a business that is packing filtered water in an attempt to defraud you.

Why Some are Scared to Drink Tap Water in Italy

Many people just assume that because the locals in Positano consume such a high quantity of bottled water that the tap water must be undrinkable. As such, many tourists just go with the flow and drink bottled water without asking questions.

Another possible explanation is that stories from Mexico tend to bias travelers’ minds in other parts of the world. Most of the tap water in Mexico is unsafe to drink, leading some tourists to erroneously assume that the tap water is undrinkable in other foreign countries.