Can You Drink Tap Water in Prague?

Prague's tap water is safe to drink and meets EU Drinking Water Directive standards throughout the city. Water supply is managed by Pražské vodovody a kanalizace (PVK — Prague Water and Sewerage Company), which draws approximately 75% of the city's supply from the Želivka reservoir in the Bohemian Highlands, around 80 kilometres south of the city. The Želivka source is a surface reservoir fed by the Želivka River, treated at the Želivka water treatment plant through coagulation, sedimentation, sand filtration, ozone treatment, UV sterilisation, and chlorination. The remaining 25% comes from the Káraný groundwater system, which draws from the banks of the Jizera River northeast of Prague through natural riverbank filtration wells similar in principle to Budapest's Danube system. Both sources produce water that consistently meets and often exceeds EU drinking water standards.

Prague's tap water has a notably soft, clean profile — the Želivka reservoir source produces water with relatively low mineral content, giving it a light, neutral taste that most visitors find pleasant. The softness is a characteristic of the Bohemian Highlands geology, where surface water accumulates without passing through the hard limestone formations that create the heavy mineral profiles of cities like Rome or London. This softness means Prague's water is gentle on the palate, leaves minimal limescale on kettles and taps, and is considered by many long-term Prague residents to be among the most drinkable tap water in Central Europe.

The tap water quality is consistent across Prague's diverse neighbourhoods — from the tourist-dense Old Town (Staré Město), Malá Strana, and Hradčany castle district on the west bank of the Vltava, to the residential Vinohrady, Žižkov, Holešovice, and Smíchov districts. Hotels, hostels, restaurants, and bars throughout Prague's historic centre all draw from the same PVK network, and the water is safe at every tap regardless of accommodation category. PVK publishes annual water quality reports that are publicly available and consistently show compliance across all monitored parameters.

Prague's relationship with tap water is somewhat more ambivalent than other safe-tap-water European cities. The Czech Republic has a strong culture of mineral water consumption — partly a legacy of the country's famous spa towns including Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, and Františkovy Lázně, where naturally mineralised spring waters have been consumed for centuries for their perceived health properties. This cultural preference for mineral water means bottled water consumption in the Czech Republic is high despite excellent tap water quality. Visitors in Prague will find restaurants often default to bottled mineral water, but requesting kohoutková voda (tap water) is perfectly acceptable and increasingly common among younger locals and the city's large expat population.

For visitors exploring Prague's most visited areas — Charles Bridge, Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock, Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral, Josefov (the Jewish Quarter), and the vibrant nightlife areas of Žižkov and Vinohrady — tap water is freely and safely available throughout. The city also has public drinking fountains in parks and squares that dispense the same PVK supply. Day trips from Prague to Český Krumlov, Kutná Hora, Karlovy Vary, or Brno offer equally safe tap water throughout the Czech Republic, which maintains consistent national water quality standards regulated by the Ministry of Health.