Tap water in Egypt

Not safe to drink

This reflects the CDC's travel health guidance for Egypt; no WHO coverage figure is published for this country. National figures describe a country, not the tap in front of you.

What the sources say

US CDC Travelers' Health

Advises travellers that tap water is generally not safe to drink in Egypt.

Numbeo

41.65/100 on the water drinkability and accessibility index, which Numbeo reads as “Moderate”. This one is crowdsourced from residents rather than measured.

Lonely Planet

In Cairo tap water is heavily chlorinated and relatively drinkable, but elsewhere it is generally unsafe to drink. Bottled water is cheap and readily available in even the smallest towns, but consider using iodine or a Steripen to reduce the use of plastic bottles, especially if you're on a longer trip.

This is a national picture, and it varies. Some cities treat their water to a standard the country as a whole does not reach. Where the water is not safe, boiling, filtering or sealed bottles are the usual options, and ice and raw salad washed in tap water carry the same risk as the water itself.

What bottled water costs you here

Drinking tap water instead of bottled would save one adult about 241$ a year in Egypt, and keep several hundred plastic bottles out of circulation.

Work out your own saving

Places in Egypt

Water quality is local. These places have their own readings.

Elsewhere in Africa