{"id":16039,"date":"2020-03-14T08:04:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T08:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devourromefoodtours.com\/?p=3757"},"modified":"2025-02-25T09:09:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T09:09:43","slug":"tap-water-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devourtours.com\/blog\/tap-water-rome\/","title":{"rendered":"A Primer on Tap Water in Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re not kidding—water is a cultural object in Rome, and there’s a whole etiquette on how to drink it. 

When one drives into Rome from the surrounding countryside, one is greeted by a series of still-standing aqueducts. Their iconic shape—linked, multi-level arches—serves as a reminder of how important they were, and still are, to the city. <\/p>

Without a consistent supply of fresh water, Rome could not have grown into a metropolis. Even today, the Acqua Vergine<\/a><\/em> still delivers fresh water from the hills into Rome and fountains like the Trevi. <\/p>

As you can see, Rome is a city with a particularly intimate relationship to water. But one can, incredibly, commit a water faux pas in Rome. Here’s a brief primer on tap water in Rome, and how to drink water like a Roman. <\/p>

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Photo credit: gérard<\/a>, Text Overlay: Devour Rome Food Tours<\/a><\/em><\/p>

1. Tap Water <\/strong><\/h2>

Let’s get the easy one out of the way. Tap water in Rome is perfectly safe to drink. Punto e basta<\/em>.<\/p>

But does that mean you can always drink it? Not at all. I remember the day I first moved to Rome, and while I was settling in with new roommates, I grabbed a glass and went to the tap to fill it up. My roommates gave me a look as if I had just dipped my glass in the toilet. In Italian households, it’s considered uncouth to offer people water from the tap, even though it’s perfectly drinkable, and therefore everyone has a bottle or two in their fridge of still and\/or sparkling water. <\/p>

In restaurants, this is also true (more on that below). However, there’s an exception. At a bar, if you ask for a glass of water, you usually receive tap water. The glass is allowed to overflow for a second, apparently to clean the glass. Why tap water is virtually forbidden at restaurants but omnipresent at bars is one of those little mysteries of Italian life.<\/p>

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Even though Roman tap water is perfectly safe to drink, you’ll more often than not be given a bottle. Photo credit: srgpicker<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>

2. Bottled Water  <\/h2>

Italians are famously particular about foods. A certain brand of coffee, a specific breed of tomato, the bread from that one bakery. This carries over to bottled water. Walk into any supermarket, and you’ll see a dozen varieties. Different brands, from different sources, and different levels of fizz. Everyone has their own favorite. <\/p>

At restaurants, when you sit down, the waiter will ask what type of water you’d like. The choices are naturale <\/em>(alternatively called liscia<\/em>) and frizzante <\/em>(also called gassata<\/em>). The former is flat, the latter sparkling. Either way, a big, cold bottle will arrive at the table. <\/p>

A few restaurants have their own filtration systems, with buttons to produce naturale<\/em> and frizzante<\/em>, but most places serve water in glass bottles. This is true everywhere<\/em>, from a pizzeria to a Michelin-starred establishment<\/a>. The only downside to this system is that you have to pay for each individual bottle (usually about €2), which can add up on a summer night with a big group that’ll guzzle down a bottle per person. <\/p>

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Be sure to budget water into your dining-out budget! Photo credit: [cipher]<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>

3. Fountains and Nasoni<\/h2>

If you walk into a bar, tobacconist or mini-market, you can usually find a fridge full of plastic bottles of water. But fortunately, Rome is full of absolutely free, drinkable, clean water from fountains. There are two types.<\/p>

In Ancient Rome, most people got their water directly from fountains fed by those aqueducts I mentioned before. Rome is still full of such fountains. On many streets, especially in the center of town, there will be a sink-like fountain attached to the wall, which still spouts water. You can use them to fill up a water bottle, no problem. And you don’t need to know which ones have drinkable water—it’s the opposite. Fountain water in Rome is assumed to be drinkable, unless the fountain has a sign saying acqua non potabile<\/em>. <\/p>

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When you’re out and about in Rome, finding water fountains is easy. Photo credit: Dmitry Djouce<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>

The most iconic drinking fountain of Rome, though, is the nasone<\/em>. Meaning “big nose,” these are hydrant-shaped metal tubes which are connected to a pipe beneath the street, and continuously spout water from a slender faucet. In the older parts of the city, they’re omnipresent. Romans use them for everything—filling up a bottle, washing hands, or placing a dog bowl beneath the stream of water so that the cane<\/em> can have a drink. <\/p>

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Watch the video to learn how to find and drink tap water from the Devour tour guides.<\/p>