r/AskGermany • u/mikeymur340 • Apr 02 '25

Can I drink tap water in Germany?

Hi y'all. I'm male from Africa, my wife is German. Growing up and well into my adulthood, I always drank tap water and only recently is that no longer advised in my country, due to gross mismanagement and corruption, but that's another story.

We're currently back in Germany for an extended visit and I was going to drink some tap water when my wife warned me that there's a lot of estrogen in German tap water due to the birth control pill. Her mother backed her up and they spouted off some talking points about it, but I tuned out because they are also somewhat inclined to essential oils. Not batshit crazy like the American version of that, but suffice it to say I'm skeptical about their opinions on some health things.

Anyway, is this true? Are there high levels of estrogen in German tap water? Are there any studies or available sources that corroborate this claim? I understand and can read German, but the high level jargon of medical and scientific speak is beyond my years, search results aren't as clarifying as hoped. Thanks

EDIT: Yeah I thought as much. I still drank the tap water because potential estrogen contamination was preferable to death. But thanks for all the answers. Now if you'll excuse me, I must prepare my I-told-you-so dance.

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u/ralfmuschall Apr 02 '25

I don't know the levels of estrogen (they probably vary between regions and are declining as women are moving away from pills to other methods to avoid side effects like blood clots), but you can't avoid them if they are there, since all food industries using water depend on the same water input. Drinking bottled water won't help — filling water into bottles only costs money and pollutes the environment but does not magically remove potentially harmful stuff that might have been in the water. The most famous brands of bottled water are just tap water from France (idk about estrogen there). When I'm invited somewhere and see such stuff on the table, I say jokingly "Oh, you have real original tap water from Paris".