According to a 2019 airline water study published by DietDetective.com and the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center at the City University of New York, “many airlines may have provided passengers with unhealthy water.” The study, which lasted seven months, investigated the water quality on board 11 major and 12 regional airlines and then ranked them accordingly.
Alaska Airlines and Allegiant had the best water quality scores of the major airlines at 3.3, while JetBlue and Spirit Airlines had the worst, tying for bottom with water health scores of 1 on a scale of 0 to 5.
Nearly all of the regional airlines studied received poor water health scores, with the exception of Piedmont Airlines, which scored 4.33. Republic Airways came in last with a score of 0.44.
One of the investigations published in 2015 in the 'International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health' spoke of “bacteria that travel” to qualify the quality of the water. After analyzing 154 samples, scientists concluded that the water from long-distance flights was much worse quality than that from short ones.
When did the contamination occur? Surprisingly, not so much in the plane's own tanks as in the vehicle that transports the water to the device. In this, the chlorine level skyrocketed, which can cause poisoning. And, although the quality of the bacteria varied significantly between planes, lines and flights, the researchers found a total of 37 different kinds of bacteria.
In 2002, 'The Wall Street Journal' already published a famous report reporting that salmonella, staphylococcus and small insect eggs were found. “What is worse is that pollution is the rule, not the exception,” the report noted. “Almost all bacteria levels are 10, sometimes hundreds of times, above the government limits.” The advice the newspaper gave? “Bring your own bottle!”
The US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) found in 2013 that 12% of flights in 2012 had tested positive for coliform, a group of bacterial species that includes the harmful E. Coli. A very small decrease compared to the results obtained a decade before, when the percentage was 15%. Something especially serious after the approval of the Aircraft Drinking Water Rule in 2011, which attempted to address this problem once and for all.
“Sometimes, the vehicle that carries the drinking water for washing hands and making coffee is located next to the one used to empty the toilets and fill the blue liquid in the sinks,” explained user Mudbutt7. “It's not supposed to be done. Sometimes, they are at a safe distance from each other, which is the policy to follow, but sometimes the guy filling the tank uses gloves that he has not changed in more than two years.”
Another forum member explained why coffee sometimes tastes so bad. “No one cleans the bin that comes out every morning,” WorseToWorser recalls. “The workers who are paid very little don't care that it is clean. At least I didn't care when I worked for AA [American Airlines].” They do not even have the necessary means to clean these storage systems, he added.
According to a 2019 airline water study published by DietDetective.com and the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center at the City University of New York, “many airlines may have provided passengers with unhealthy water.” The study, which lasted seven months, investigated the water quality on board 11 major and 12 regional airlines and then ranked them accordingly.
Alaska Airlines and Allegiant had the best water quality scores of the major airlines at 3.3, while JetBlue and Spirit Airlines had the worst, tying for bottom with water health scores of 1 on a scale of 0 to 5.
Nearly all of the regional airlines studied received poor water health scores, with the exception of Piedmont Airlines, which scored 4.33. Republic Airways came in last with a score of 0.44.
One of the investigations published in 2015 in the 'International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health' spoke of “bacteria that travel” to qualify the quality of the water. After analyzing 154 samples, scientists concluded that the water from long-distance flights was much worse quality than that from short ones.
When did the contamination occur? Surprisingly, not so much in the plane's own tanks as in the vehicle that transports the water to the device. In this, the chlorine level skyrocketed, which can cause poisoning. And, although the quality of the bacteria varied significantly between planes, lines and flights, the researchers found a total of 37 different kinds of bacteria.
In 2002, 'The Wall Street Journal' already published a famous report reporting that salmonella, staphylococcus and small insect eggs were found. “What is worse is that pollution is the rule, not the exception,” the report noted. “Almost all bacteria levels are 10, sometimes hundreds of times, above the government limits.” The advice the newspaper gave? “Bring your own bottle!”
The US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) found in 2013 that 12% of flights in 2012 had tested positive for coliform, a group of bacterial species that includes the harmful E. Coli. A very small decrease compared to the results obtained a decade before, when the percentage was 15%. Something especially serious after the approval of the Aircraft Drinking Water Rule in 2011, which attempted to address this problem once and for all.
“Sometimes, the vehicle that carries the drinking water for washing hands and making coffee is located next to the one used to empty the toilets and fill the blue liquid in the sinks,” explained user Mudbutt7. “It's not supposed to be done. Sometimes, they are at a safe distance from each other, which is the policy to follow, but sometimes the guy filling the tank uses gloves that he has not changed in more than two years.”
Another forum member explained why coffee sometimes tastes so bad. “No one cleans the bin that comes out every morning,” WorseToWorser recalls. “The workers who are paid very little don't care that it is clean. At least I didn't care when I worked for AA [American Airlines].” They do not even have the necessary means to clean these storage systems, he added.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2019/09/20/new-report-reveals-cleanliness-airline-water-its-not-great/ (2019).--
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/Airlines-drinking-water-fails-hygiene-tests/.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/airplane-tap-water-tainted-epa-faa-fda-flight-attendants-avoid-study-video-2017-2.---
https://www.elconfidencial.com/alma-corazon-vida/2017-02-24/beber-agua-cafe-avion_1336083/.----
https://maldita.es/alimentacion/20221116/evitar-te-cafe-vuelo-avion/ .---