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Can You Drink Tap Water in Almaty?
Yes, tap water is drinkable.
Tap Safe includes data from many publicly available sources, including the WHO (World Health Organization), CDC (Center for Disease Control), and user submitted databases, but unfortunately there's not enough data about Almaty.
To see user submitted ratings of the water quality for Kazakhstan, see the "User Submitted Ratings" box on this page.
It was nearly two weeks ago when I stumbled upon an article in the International Herald Tribune (Tirataki, Indonesia) written by Dr. Paul Lama with the title: Tap Water Safety in Kazakhstan. I did not know that there were problems in Kazakhstan regarding tap water quality and drinking water. It is alarming that even countries with plentiful supplies of fresh water have to resort to storing treated sewage water in tanks alongside their streams and rivers. It seems that wherever there is enough space, there are people willing to take advantage of it.
In Kazakhstan, a rather large number of cities suffer from the same problem. The capital city of Astana has had adequate treatment facilities in place since the 1960s. However, in smaller towns and cities less advanced technology has been used to purify tap water. Tanks are simply too large to be effective.
When I first heard of contaminated drinking water in Kazakhstan I instantly felt my stomach sinking.
The estimated price of bottled water
$0.47 in USD (1.5-liter)
USER SUBMITTED RATINGS
- Drinking Water Pollution and Inaccessibility
- Water Pollution
- Drinking Water Quality and Accessibility
- Water Quality
The above data is comprised of subjective, user submitted opinions about the water quality and pollution in Almaty, measured on a scale from 0% (lowest) to 100% (highest).
Related FAQS
Reminder
Always take extra precautions, the water may be safe to drink when it leaves the sewage treatment plant but it may pick up pollutants during its way to your tap. We advise that you ask locals or hotel staff about the water quality. Also, note that different cities have different water mineral contents.