Drink with caution. A city-specific assessment for Delhi.
Can you…
Can you drink the tap water in Delhi?
Last reviewed 2026 · India
Delhi scores 40/100 for tap-water safety — drink with caution. So if you’re asking whether the tap water is safe in Delhi, 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 Delhi?
- Drinkable?
- No — don’t drink it unfiltered. Boil, filter, or buy bottled.
- Brush teeth?
- Risky — use bottled or boiled water to brush, especially for children.
- 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 Delhi?
Boiling is a reliable fallback in Delhi. 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 Delhi?
Many visitors to Delhi 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 Delhi safer to drink. For short stays, bottled water is still the simplest option.
How Delhi compares to the rest of India
Delhi is rated 40/100, against 35/100 for India as a whole — its water infrastructure tends to run ahead of the national average.
Common questions about tap water in Delhi
Can you drink tap water in Delhi?+
Delhi scores 40/100 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 Delhi?+
Risky — use bottled or boiled water to brush, especially for children.
Is ice safe to use in drinks in Delhi?+
Avoid ice — it’s frequently made from untreated water.
Is tap water in Delhi 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 Delhi score is derived from India’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 India.
Read the full methodology — how the 0–100 score is built and what it does (and doesn’t) mean.