Caution: Water on board

See? Scare tactics work.

Here are the facts of the matter. Most airlines these days board only a limited supply of bottled water on each flight. The ratio of bottled water to tap available depends on where you sit.

• First Class: 100% bottled water
• Business Class: 50% bottled/50% tap
• Economy: 25% bottled/75% tap

The airlines say there isn’t enough room on the airplane to stock bottled water for every passenger. With the disappearance of in-flight meals, one might imagine there’d be plenty of room for water, so maybe it has more to do with shrinking airline budgets.

The tap water comes form the water tank, which is filled before each flight with water from the local water supply. This is the water that is used for coffee, tea, the lavatory sink, and the pitcher on the beverage cart. It is regular old, run-of-the-mill tap water: the same treated H2O that comes out of your faucets at home — but with a twist.

The twist is the holding tanks. Some recent, highly publicized tests have found high bacteria and fecal counts in those tanks. Other, less well-publicized tests show normal readings for contaminants, but ask any mechanic who has stripped down a water tank, and you’ll hear that it is not a pretty sight.

I have been a flight attendant for 16 years, and I believe that there are legitimate concerns about water on board. Here are some tips that might help.

1. Don’t go overboard
Hydration is good, but over-hydration is wasteful. A one-liter bottle of water is sufficient for all flights under eight hours. Any more will have you drinking your neighbor’s share and running to the not-so-sanitary lavatory all too often (but that is a whole other article).

2. Tap it
If you are in good health and are really thirsty, don’t be afraid to drink tap water now and then. In fact, many doctors encourage their patients to drink tap water as a way of building up their immune systems. More complications arise from dehydration than drinking tap water, anyway.

3. BYOB
If you absolutely, positively have to have bottled water, then you’d better bring your own. I don’t condone it, but sometimes flight attendants do refill water bottles from the tap. The crews call it “Galley Springs.” Don’t bother asking whether you’re getting real mineral water; tap water has minerals in it, too, you know.

4. Get bubbly
Ask for sparkling mineral water. It is from a natural source and can be a refreshing change from still water. And there’s no chance of a tap-water substitution.

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