Tap water in Italy: 99.1% of health tests passed

Yes: between 2020 and 2022 Italian tap water met the health parameters in 99.1%¹ of tests and the indicator parameters in 98.4%¹, across more than 2.5 million analyses (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 2024).

Where the 99.1% comes from

The figure is from the first report of the National Center for Water Safety (CeNSiA) at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, published in July 2024. It pools more than 2.5 million analyses from 18 regions and autonomous provinces, which together cover over 90% of the population.

Every region scored above 95%, and Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Piemonte came out best. The 99.1%¹ covers the microbiological and chemical health parameters; the separate indicator parameters passed 98.4%¹ of the time.

Fewer than 1 in 100 failed, and locally

Fewer than 1 test in 100¹ on the health parameters failed, and the failures were local and episodic rather than national. They involved bacteria such as enterococci, E. coli and coliforms, and naturally occurring fluoride and arsenic in limited areas.

If a tap in your rental is under a local do-not-drink notice, that notice is the fact that matters, not the national average. The average tells you the default, and the default is drinkable.

The law since March 2023

Drinking water in Italy is governed by legislative decree 18 of February 23, 2023, in force since March 21, 2023. It transposes EU directive 2020/2184², replaces decree 31/2001 and set up CeNSiA at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità.

The decree assesses risk all the way from the source to the tap, with stronger duties in priority buildings: hospitals, care homes, hotels, restaurants, stations, airports and canteens. Your hotel is on that list.

Free tap water: encouraged, not owed

Article 17 of the same decree tells regions and autonomous provinces to widen access to drinking water, with public supply points at least in airports, stations and beach clubs. It also encourages restaurants to give customers drinking water free.

That second part is a promotion measure, not a duty with a fine behind it, and in practice most restaurants still bring bottled water and put it on the bill. A year after the decree took effect, only 9 regions and autonomous provinces had sent in their first data. Whether a restaurant has to bring you tap water is answered in the money and tipping FAQ.

Why Italians still buy bottles

Almost one Italian in three does not trust tap water, according to ISTAT figures cited by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. That measures perception, not quality, and the 99.1%¹ is the measure of quality.

So the bottle on a restaurant table says more about habit than about the pipe under the street. Fill up from the tap in your room, and from the public points the decree names at stations and airports; what else ends up on a restaurant bill is on tipping and the coperto.

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