Hello, Is it possible to order tap water at restaurants in Venice? Whenever we tried to order water, we were given a choice of sparkling or still. We ordered still and the waiter would bring a bottle of water.

What do we ask for if we just want a glass of tap water?

Thank you! Laurie

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Originally posted by Laurie0605:
What do we ask for if we just want a glass of tap water?

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Ask for "a glass of tap water, please"
Drinking tap water in Venice is a safe thing to do and "acceptable". Here are some Do's and Dont's tips from the Danieli Hotel If the waiter gives you "the look", just tell him you would like to do a little bit of laundry while you eat

While at the web site, take the Virtual Tour. Very nice.

"Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza..."

"I sing to life, to its beauty, to each of its wounds and each of its caresses..."

[This message was edited by Westsider on 17 January 2004 at 10:01 AM.]

I believe the Italian term is "acqua del rubinetto."

Shannon
www.chowbellabooks.com

It is the same all over Italy. It is assumed that you will drink bottled water and you have your choice of natural or gas ("naturale" or "gasata"). "Frizzante" is water with gas, but not as much as "gasata". But you can ask for tap water.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

One thing to note.... bottled water in Italy is much more reasonably priced than it is in the US. I am amazed at the greed of US restaurants charging $4.00 a liter much less the $7.00 that is becoming standard in DC's downtown and in NYC. Most places in Italy charge €2 to €3 for minerale. I drink the fizzy stuff so I am always in for a bottle or two every dinner.

Wine Notes*Tuscan Restaurant List* Wine, Opera & Food* Trip

words of wisdom to live by from Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs
{The chorus is singing a prayer to Dionysus...}
Dionysius "A hymm to me, the god of wine..."
Xanthius (His slave) "I thought you were the god of drama?"
Dionysius "I am the god of wine and the god of drama. A little wine will get you thru a lot of drama"

Thank you all for your help! Laurie

I'm with Dean on the US bottled water prices -- outrageous!

In NYC proper it's common to see $7 for a 750ml bottle of Pellegrino (I've seen it as high as $9!). Even up here in Westchester County $6 or $7 is pretty standard. It's become quite the profit center for restaurants, and quite the pricey proposition for diners. My wife and I always have acqua con gas with dinner -- if we dine out with another like-minded couple, we've spent $21 on bottled water in a snap.

And down the street at Costco Pellegrino is $11.99 for a case of 12 bottles. Sheesh.

Restaurants and bars are NOT ALLOWED to serve tap water or opened bottles. All drinks must be served in closed bottles opened in front of the client.
This is the law. Of course you still find many places serving just a glass of water, even if from a previously open bottle of mineral water (that is not allowed as well), or a glass of coke from an open bottle.
You are allowed to serve drinks in glasses if and only if you have dispensers, like the ones for beer in pubs or the ones for pops in McDonald's, etc.

So, probably they will bring you a glass of tap water, but at their risk.

The New Happy Weeks and Last Minute offers
at Casina di Rosa - Holiday home in Tuscany

They are not allowed by law to serve tap water? Is this the law all over Italy? We have been served carafes of tap water (or so I thought).

Wine is served in open jugs - how does this qualify? You can also get a glass of wine.

Pauline from Slow Travelers

Yes, it should definitely be a national law. it is a law in Tuscany for sure.

They passed it after that journalist from RAI1 was almost killed by a glass of acid served by mistake by a bar tender in Rome.

The New Happy Weeks and Last Minute offers
at Casina di Rosa - Holiday home in Tuscany

For those who can read Italian:

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Decreto del Ministero della Salute del 3.12.2001

Considerato che le acque minerali naturali si distinguono dalle ordinarie acque potabili per la purezza originaria e le caratteristiche intrinseche che devono essere preservate sino al momento del consumo;
Considerato che e' contraria alle norme vigenti e sanzionabile sotto il profilo amministrativo, la prassi invalsa negli esercizi pubblici di offrire ai consumatori acqua minerale naturale prelevata da confezioni non integre, esponendo l'acqua minerale a rischi di contaminazione e di perdita di caratteristiche intrinseche a seguito della distruzione del confezionamento e rendendo problematico l'accesso del consumatore all'informazione recata dall'etichetta;
Ritenuto, al fine di garantire la tutela della salute de consumatore, di chiarire quanto sopra e sanare espressamente il divieto della commercializzazione previo frazionamento delle acque minerali naturali",

"Negli esercizi pubblici l'acqua minerale naturale originariamente preconfezionata deve essere venduta al consumatore in confezione integra o previa apertura della confezione al momento della consumazione".

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The New Happy Weeks and Last Minute offers
at Casina di Rosa - Holiday home in Tuscany

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Originally posted by Gloria - Casina di Rosa:
"Negli esercizi pubblici l'acqua minerale naturale originariamente preconfezionata deve essere venduta al consumatore in confezione integra o previa apertura della confezione al momento della consumazione".

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Now I know why the waiter at my preferred restaurant in Venice showed me the bottle of water before opened it and pour the water in the glass. I thought he was a frustrated magician...

"Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza..."

"I sing to life, to its beauty, to each of its wounds and each of its caresses..."

When I was in Polignano a Mare, Bari a young man was filling empty one liter water bottles then capping them from the well in front of the neighborhood trattoria where he apparently worked. After he filled several he loaded the filled, capped bottles in a carrying basket and carried the filled case into the restaurant.

The water was no doubt good, but the empty bottles probably weren't steralized. I guess that is no worse than witnessing people filling their empty plastic water bottles from a water cooler. This is a common occurence at the gym where I work out.

I have a picture of the scene but it is on my other computer up north.

Peter

When in the north of Itlay, I trly enjoy the waters from the Alto Adige. They are very high in mineral content and unlike, say Evian, they dont have the akalyine "soapy" mouthfeel that some mountain waters have. Surgiva is my favorite widely available water but I have had some from tiny Alto Adige bottlers that are wonderful.

Wine Notes*Tuscan Restaurant List* Wine, Opera & Food* Trip

words of wisdom to live by from Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs
{The chorus is singing a prayer to Dionysus...}
Dionysius "A hymm to me, the god of wine..."
Xanthius (His slave) "I thought you were the god of drama?"
Dionysius "I am the god of wine and the god of drama. A little wine will get you thru a lot of drama"

Has anyone else noticed that in Italian restaurants, natives seem to order "naturale" more often, while tourists more often order water "con gas"? I'm a little ashamed for thinking so cynically, but could this be because "with gas" there's less of a chance that tap water has been substituted?

Usually the waiter will bring the bottled water - flat or fizzy - to the table still sealed. As a courtesy, he may open and pour it for you. I have rarely, if ever, been served a bottle that wasn't very clearly still sealed when it arrived. Italians order flat or fizzy about equally, in my experience - it's purely a matter of taste.

The law quoted does not say anything about tap water. It only says that bottled water must be served sealed to avoid risk of contamination.

When I first traveled in Italy, I used to ask for tap water, to try to keep costs down, but I would feel weird doing that now. Besides, mineral water often tastes a lot better than city water.

My family stockpiles plastic bottles, and we take them (dozens at a time) to fill on trips to the mountains - there's at least one fountain in every town, drawing water directly from a pure mountain spring. Very tasty water, very cheap.

best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

http://www.straughan.com

Hi Deirdré,

no it doesn't say anything about tap water, but I can guarantee you that you shouldn't serve it. At least this is what I have been told the last couple of years in places where I have worked.

What you should do, is very different from what you will see people do, though.

Tap water is generally good in Italy, so it won't do any harm if you get a glass of tap water.

Here where we are, we get water from Fiora, one of the best in Tuscany. It is very pure, and you cn tell because it doesn't leave any of those white traces in pots and kettles.

In Pisa for instance, I don't drink tap water at home: it is very rich in scale, if that is the right word.

The New Happy Weeks and Last Minute offers
at Casina di Rosa - Holiday home in Tuscany

quote:

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Originally posted by Pauline:
They are not allowed by law to serve tap water? Is this the law all over Italy? We have been served carafes of tap water (or so I thought).
Wine is served in open jugs - how does this qualify? You can also get a glass of wine.

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The law waws issued a couple of years ago after several people got poisoned from drinking from unmarked bottles of water that actually contained acid or house cleaning products. Several such alarms in a row caused quite a panic all over Italy. Obviously, the law is largely unattended (as usual in Italy with such silly laws and a few smart ones). Yet, since than (and even before that) many restaurants have been ewquipping themselves with "addolcitore" systems with dispensers that clean up tap water form the excess calcium and other substances. It's this water that is served in carafes (it can also be sparkling). As for wine, it an be served by the glass because it is NOT water and this law applies only to water and non alchoolic drinks ^_^

Alice Twain
--
I don’t want to take what you can’t give / I would rather starve than eat your bread
I would rather run but I can’t walk / Guess I’ll lie alone just like before
                Pearl Jam, Corduroy

I was under the impression that it is legal to SERVE tap water, but illegal to SELL tapwater

Tony Polzer
Tour Operator
3 Millennia Tours - Tours of Rome
www.threemillennia.com / tony@threemillennia.com

Slighly off-topic, but I'm jetlagged and am wide awake!

In Dec we stayed at the Hotel Excelsior in Abetone(PT); there were signs in the room saying acqua non potabile (don't drink the tap water). My sister commented that the only other place she'd seen that was 15 years ago in a fishing camp in Campagna.

Maureen

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Originally posted by maureen:
In Dec we stayed at the Hotel Excelsior in Abetone(PT); there were signs in the room saying _acqua non potabile_ (don't drink the tap water).

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This may have been a temporary problem. Our tap water is constantly moniotored, and when a single level of something trespasses the law limits, than a temporary prohibition to drink the water is issued until the source of the pollution is found and fixed. It is worth noticing that the law parameters are stricter for tap water than for bottled water. So why do italians drink bottled water and not tap water? most do it out of aschion, others (like me) do it because the tap water in Milano has too much chlorine and therefore tastes foul.

Alice Twain
--
http://itinit.splinder.it/