You should never drink coffee or tea prepared
on an airplane: you may get very sick.
That’s the bottom line to recent
studies (by Hunter College’s NYC Food Safety Center) of the
safety of airplanes’ water tanks which, it turns out, can be harboring some
nasty contaminants such as e coli and coliform.
Some suggest you shouldn’t even wash your hands in on-board water.
Airlines are only required to flush and
clean their on-board water tanks four times a year. But when they fly to exotic destinations and
get serviced between flights, they take on local water which may not meet US
standards. The tanks aren’t emptied and
cleaned, just topped-off, leaving the nasty
stuff at the bottom. And those tanks can often sit long periods (think
overnight) between fillings.
The airlines say there isn’t time
between flights to do more than clean the cabin, off-load and load baggage and
get their expensive jets back in the air, making money.
Back in 2011 the EPA instituted the
Airline Drinking Water Rule (ADWR) which was to
“ensure that safe and reliable drinking water is
provided to aircraft passengers and crew.”
But a year later, one in
ten aircraft tested still showed signs of coliform.
Coliform itself won’t make you sick but it’s often a sign of other
dangerous bacteria lurking in your drinks: viruses, protozoa and multicellular
parasites.
Some airlines, like Southwest which has one of the best water
safety records, disinfect their tanks with ozone. But while OCDC flyers may swab their seatback
tables with disinfectant wipes, there’s not much they can know (or do) about
those hidden water tanks… or your fellow passengers spewing germs into the
recirculated air. Maybe you should bring
a surgical mask, too?
It’s also not very reassuring to learn that the EPA has
rarely, if ever, levied a fine against those airlines failing inspections. Even airlines failing quarterly water sample
tests don’t have to shut down their water use for 24 hours. Huh?
The Hunter College study ranked the top ten domestic
airlines’ water safety. Top scores for
the cleanest water went to Alaska and Allegiant with scores of 3.3 on a scale
of 5 (where 5 is best). The major
carriers like Delta, American and United and got scores of 1.6, 1.5 and
1.2 respectively. At the bottom of the rankings, with scores of
just 1, were JetBlue and Spirit.
You absolutely need to hydrate,
especially on longer flights, but you should either BYO bottled water or drink
the airlines’ water distributed in flight, but only if it’s bottled. That coffee or tea you’re offered in-flight
is not made with bottled water. Plus,
the caffeine in tea or coffee only dehydrates you further.
On the railroads I can remember the
olden days when rail passengers could get water from a cooler in each car,
quaffing their thirst with tiny, triangular paper cups dispensed next to the
spigots. Not anymore. Amtrak even reminds passengers not
to drink restroom sink water.
On Metro-North there are no water
spigots, though each train does carry emergency
“boxed” water in case of a breakdown and lengthy delays. But even those supplies have a five year
safety limit.
Bottom line: don’t be paranoid but do be safe. Bring your own water, even if it means
carrying any empty bottle through TSA for filling at a water fountain.
Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media
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