Is the tap water safe to drink in Portugal?
Yes. Portugal's water regulator, ERSAR, reports that its safe-water indicator for tap water has held at 99% for years, and WHO and UNICEF put safely managed drinking water at 95.2% for 2024.
What the official figures say
Part of the gap between those two figures is people who don't use the public supply. At the end of 2024, 97% of mainland Portugal could connect to it but only 90% had, and many people still drink from their own wells and boreholes. The share with safely managed water is lower in the countryside, at 91.4%, than in towns and cities, at 97.0%.
In Lisbon, the water company EPAL has been building a network of public drinking fountains, linked to the mains by short branches so the water stays cool.
Why a public tap can still be different
Old public fountains, chafarizes and village springs aren't all on the treated supply. A sign saying água não potável means the water isn't safe to drink, and a fountain with no sign hasn't necessarily been tested.
Check the tap, then tell the next person
Use fountains marked água potável and check the spout. When you find one on the coast or along the Camino, add it to Fontavio or review it for the next walker.
Sources
- WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme, household drinking water data (2025 update, estimates for 2024) (checked 2026-09-22)
- Observador, reporting ERSAR RASARP 2025 (data for 2024) (checked 2026-09-22)
- EPAL, Projeto Bebedouros de Lisboa (checked 2026-09-22)
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