Ever wondered why airline crew members choose to purchase their own tea or coffee when they’re about to get the same onboard? They can have all the coffee and tea they want on the flight – free of cost – but they choose not to.
Why?
Well, the reason most airline crew members get their own beverages is in a bid to avoid anything that is prepared using the inflight water.
The drinking water served on flights contains high amounts of bacteria.
The NBC reported from documents created by the EPA that the airline water tank hoses and the tanks that stored the drinking water contain high amounts of sediments, more akin to pond scum. Tests conducted on major American airline companies like United Airlines and National Airlines have detected trace amounts of bacterium like Pasteurella pneumotropica and Pseudomonas, that are highly resistant and extremely infectious.
The water from the basins and all other on board meal preparations are extracted from the tank.
Although airlines serve bottled drinking water off of the carts, federal regulations require the water stored in the tanks to be drinkable in case they run out of the former. In any case, no one wants to brush their teeth with filthy water either.
NBC experts insist that infants and those with compromised immune systems should especially stay away from airline drinking water.