The one thing you should never drink on a plane

According to flight attendents

While drinking fluids on a flight is something that is advised, according to flight attendants there's one beverage you should never order onboard - tap water.



Speaking to Business Insider, a flight attendant said you should never drink tap water mid-flight because it can be dirty. “Flight attendants will not drink hot water on the plane,” the attendant said.

“They will not drink plain coffee, and they will not drink plain tea.”

While the water tanks do get cleaned, flight attendants are never informed when or how often the cleaning takes place. As a result, they are not sure how clean the water is. Subsequently, they stay away from water, hot or cold, unless it's bottled.

A recent Environmental Protection Agency study found 1 in every 8 planes fails to meet the agency's standards for water safety. 12 per cent of commercial planes in the US had at least one positive test for coliform - a bacteria found in human feces.

The claim is also supported by The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA in USA. They are quoted as saying, "Water onboard is regulated under the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure safe drinking water on the aircraft. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA pushed for this regulation over 15 years ago.



"The regulation gives broad discretion to airlines on how often they must test the water and flush the tanks. AFA does not believe this regulation goes far enough or is sufficiently enforced."

This story originally appeared on Business Insider