Drink with caution. A city-specific assessment for Cairo.
Can you…
Can you drink the tap water in Cairo?
Last reviewed 2026 · Egypt
Cairo scores 42/100 for tap-water safety — drink with caution. So if you’re asking whether the tap water is safe in Cairo, the short answer is “drink with caution.” Scores above 70 mean tap water is generally safe to drink. 40–69 means treat it with caution — filtering or bottled water is wise. Below 40 means it’s best avoided straight from the tap.
Ice, brushing your teeth & cooking: what’s safe in Cairo?
- Drinkable?
- No — don’t drink it unfiltered. Boil, filter, or buy bottled.
- Brush teeth?
- Usually fine for brushing if you don’t swallow, though the cautious use filtered or bottled water.
- Ice?
- Avoid ice — it’s frequently made from untreated water.
- Cooking?
- Generally okay, since a rolling boil kills most pathogens; rinse raw produce with filtered water when you can.
Should you boil the tap water in Cairo?
Boiling is a reliable fallback in Cairo. A rolling boil for one minute kills bacteria, viruses, and parasites. It won't remove chemical contaminants or lead, though — for those you'd need a filter or bottled water. More on what boiling does and doesn’t remove.
Do you need bottled water or a filter in Cairo?
Many visitors to Cairo stick to bottled water to be safe, and it's widely available — just check the seal is intact. A reusable bottle with a built-in filter is a lower-cost, lower-waste alternative.
A good filter — ideally certified for microbiological removal, not just taste — makes the tap water in Cairo safer to drink. For short stays, bottled water is still the simplest option.
How Cairo compares to the rest of Egypt
Cairo is rated 42/100, against 50/100 for Egypt as a whole — treat local tap water more cautiously than the national figure suggests.
Common questions about tap water in Cairo
Can you drink tap water in Cairo?+
Cairo scores 42/100 on our water-safety index — drink with caution. No — don’t drink it unfiltered. Boil, filter, or buy bottled.
Is it safe to brush your teeth with tap water in Cairo?+
Usually fine for brushing if you don’t swallow, though the cautious use filtered or bottled water.
Is ice safe to use in drinks in Cairo?+
Avoid ice — it’s frequently made from untreated water.
Is tap water in Cairo safe for cooking?+
Generally okay, since a rolling boil kills most pathogens; rinse raw produce with filtered water when you can.
Data & sources
City-level tap-water safety isn’t published as a single official global dataset, so the Cairo score is derived from Egypt’s national water-safety assessment and city-specific conditions together with CDC traveler guidance. For the full country picture and its official sources, see tap water in Egypt.
Read the full methodology — how the 0–100 score is built and what it does (and doesn’t) mean.