Traveling to a different country can help us realize the things we take for granted back home. One thing I discovered I took for granted was drinkable tap water. Although tap water in Romania is safe to use for things like showering and washing your hands, it is generally not recommended to drink the water here because the cleanliness of tap water in Romania has been historically inconsistent. Because of this, most Romanians either purchase bottled water or boil their water in order to drink it. It took me a while to adjust to this difference, but after living here for eight months, I have now become fully accustomed to purchasing bottled water or filtering it myself.
Living here has taught me about the Romanian community’s need to get their drinking water from sources other than their faucets at home. For example, in more urban areas, most residents purchase large bottles or jugs of water from the grocery store. In more rural areas, lots of people still get their water from wells, which they then boil to kill any potentially harmful bacteria in order to drink it.
