During the flight, tourists often notice that they are served muddy water or cloudy tea. According to a flight attendant on a Reddit forum, this is actually quite common and often leaves passengers wondering, “Is this safe to drink?”
The expert explained that the water in the plane may appear cloudy because it comes from the water tank. “Everyone is asking about water and whether it is safe to drink it. To clarify, the tanks are cleaned regularly, but it depends on what you mean by “regularly”. Ours work a maximum of a week before they are cleaned. This is basic hygiene and safety. Also, filters are built into our boilers before pouring tea or coffee. I have seen people not want to drink water because it looks cloudy. But this turbidity is not due to water, but due to air pressure. If you tap on the side of a bottle or cup, the bubbles will quickly dissipate,” she explained.
According to a water treatment employee who commented on the thread, the cloudy appearance of water and tea is mainly due to the mixture of oxygen and nitrogen in the water: “Water at ground level dissolves about 10 parts per million of oxygen and some nitrogen from the air. During the flight of an airplane, the water begins to heat up, especially when it is poured into glasses for consumption. As the water gets warmer and also agitated, the dissolved oxygen comes out of solution and makes the water cloudy. If you leave the water for a while, the oxygen bubbles will merge and the water will become clear, some bubbles will be visible on the side of the glass.”
Basically, tap water on flights is used to prepare hot drinks, and cold or drinking water at room temperature is served in bottles. Hygiene is critical on board an aircraft, and airlines must follow strict guidelines about how often they disinfect water systems. For example, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many airlines have tightened up their cleaning procedures on board.
An earlier 2019 scientific study found that passengers should avoid drinking tap water on airplanes due to the fact that airplane water is often found to contain harmful bacteria. Air carriers are obligated to disinfect and flush every water tank on an aircraft four times a year, according to scientists. This does not apply to airlines, which prefer to check their tanks on a monthly basis – for them, disinfection and rinsing of tanks is only required once a year.
Earlier, Tuprom wrote that “Do not touch her at any cost: the flight attendant told about one dangers in the toilet of an airplane.
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