Tap water in Papua New Guinea
Not safe to drink
This reflects the CDC's travel health guidance for Papua New Guinea; 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
Advises travellers that tap water is generally not safe to drink in Papua New Guinea.
46.74/100 on the water drinkability and accessibility index, which Numbeo reads as “Moderate”. This one is crowdsourced from residents rather than measured.
The municipal water supply in the capital and in the majority of major towns can be trusted. If you’re trekking, drink only from streams at a higher altitude than nearby villages. It's always a sensible precaution to boil, filter or chemically disinfect water.
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 1606$ a year in Papua New Guinea, and keep several hundred plastic bottles out of circulation.
Work out your own savingPlaces in Papua New Guinea
Water quality is local. These places have their own readings.