Halmos Faculty Questioned on Airline Drinking Water

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, CBS4 Miami broadcasted a story about the quality of water on commercial airliners. This was prompted by a recent airline water quality study conducted by DietDetective.com, along with Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center, who rated US airlines on how their onboard tap water measures up to Aircraft Drinking Water Rules.

Halmos faculty member Robert Smith, Ph.D. was interviewed for the story, explaining the concerns of finding coliform bacteria. “They exist naturally in the environment, you can find them in soils, you can find them in water, but what they’re really worried about is that they’re often associated with poop from humans,” Smith explained. “So they’re concerned the water has been contaminated with human feces.”

That being said, he noted water quality onboard aircraft has been getting better over the years.

“For me, this is not a cause of massive concern,” Smith said. “I think since the federal regulations have been developed, the amount of these violations or amount of time coliform bacteria have been detected inside water sources has decreased substantially.”

The study recommends passengers only drink bottled water on aircraft, avoid coffee or tea and don’t wash your hands in the bathroom, use sanitizer instead. Smith agrees you should drink only bottled water but feels the coffee and tea are okay to drink and recommends washing your hands and then using sanitizer if you’re concerned.