A while back we wrote a piece about foods and beverage you really shouldn’t buy at airports. However we never went over foods and bevvies you shouldn’t purchase or consume on a plane.
There’s good reason for that. Although the food planes sell and/or give away are typically “meh” at best, they’re rarely going to hurt anyone. Most of it is pre-packaged, and many (although not all) airlines have eliminated the foods that potentially could be anaphylactic triggers for peoples’ airborne food allergies, such as peanuts.
And then we get to liquids. Again, most beverages on planes are pre-packaged. Cans of soda, cartons of milk, even bottles of alcohol. Many airlines nowadays give out bottled water (Alaska Airlines has taken things one step further; they give out boxed water, in efforts towards recycling and sustainability). But if you want coffee or tea, you’re going to be drinking the water that comes from the airlines’ potable water tanks.
For years, there have been articles warning passengers not to drink this water:
- 3 things flight attendants say you should never eat or drink on a plane (Travel + Leisure, Jan., 2023)
- Why getting tea or coffee on plane could be dangerous (Business Insider; May, 2021)
- Flight attendants avoid drinking tap water on planes. You should too (Healthline, Oct., 2019)
- Why you should avoid drinking tap water on airplanes (Time Magazine, Oct., 2017)
So you don’t have to read every article, these are some highlights:
- “…A 2004 EPA sample of 158 planes, 13% contained coliform bacteria. Two of the airplanes were found to have dangerous E.coli in the water, according to the sample.”
- “…But recent research suggests that besides passenger hosts, the tanks of cold water on an airplane could be Patient Zero for some preventable infections.”
What’s the real story?
Since 2009 (and amended in 2013), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required airlines to undergo periodic quality tests and routine disinfecting. The airlines are able to set their own protocols (which must be approved by the agency), but the minimum requirements are for disinfection and flushing of the water tank at least once a year, with at least one water sample tested each month. Airlines can also choose to disinfect and flush the system more often, and then sample less often (an example of this would be quarterly disinfection and flushing and at least one sample test per year). There are other minimum compliance options the airlines have to follow, although they’re are free to exceed the minimums.
The disinfection process is done by a chemical rinse they put in the tanks. It’s admittedly not “industrial hospital quality” (read: it’s not sterile when they’re done), but the process has been compared to the HEPA filtering system they have for an aircraft’s cabin air.
Another thought: even if there was some sort of bacteria in the tank, most bacteria dies when heated to 175 degrees. Although water doesn’t boil until 212 degrees on land, it boils at 195 degrees when you’re above 7,000 feet. So if it was, I dunno, the day before the water was disinfected, IF there was bacteria in the water, it would be killed anyway when the water that would be used for your hot drink would be put to boiling.
One caveat
It’s been suggested that you not drink the water from a plane if it’s from a place that historically has unsafe drinking water from the tap. These are most of those countries.
What about ice?
A plane’s ice is usually not made on the plane; catering contractors on the ground provide it. So as long as the plane came from a place with safe tap water, the ice should be good, too.
How you know planes’ coffee & tea are OK to drink
So in general, for people who have normal immune systems, the hot water major carriers in developed countries offer is fine. If it weren’t, well, it’s pretty easy to trace if a bunch of people were to get some sort of food poisoning or stomach infection. It would be all over the news, just like the ground beef E. coli incident, and the Cronut burger Staphylococcus outbreak. If something had ever happened because people drank a plane’s hot water, we would have heard about it by now.
Feature Photo (cropped): Family Flys Free (used with permission)
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