Not safe to drink. A city-specific assessment for Lagos.
Can you…
Can you drink the tap water in Lagos?
Last reviewed September 2026 · Nigeria
Short answer: don't drink the tap water in Lagos untreated. At 24/100 it falls in the avoid band, so for drinking and brushing your teeth use sealed bottled water or a proper purifier, and treat ice and unpeeled salads in Lagos the same way.
Tap water for visitors to Lagos
In Lagos, treat drinking water as something you buy or treat, not something you pour from the tap. Use sealed bottled water for drinking and brushing, avoid ice unless you know it was made from safe water, and skip raw salads or unpeeled fruit rinsed in tap water. Hot, thoroughly cooked food and sealed drinks are the safe defaults.
If bottled water isn't to hand, a rolling boil for one minute or a purifier certified to remove bacteria and viruses will do the job — a plain taste filter won't. Untreated water in Lagos can carry the causes of travellers' diarrhoea and, in some areas, more serious infections, so it's worth checking your travel vaccinations before you go. See CDC food & water precautions.
More depth in our guides on boiling water and drinking tap water while traveling.
How Lagos compares to the rest of Nigeria
Lagos is rated 24/100, against 27/100 for Nigeria as a whole — treat local tap water more cautiously than the national figure suggests.
Lagos tap water: quick answers
Can you drink tap water in Lagos?+
No. At 24/100, don't drink tap water in Lagos untreated — use sealed bottled or properly purified water instead.
Is ice safe, and can you brush your teeth with tap water in Lagos?+
In Lagos, brushing your teeth with tap water is usually okay if you don't swallow, but be wary of ice from street vendors — stick to reputable venues or ice made from bottled water.
Do you need bottled water in Lagos?+
For drinking, yes — bottled or filtered water is the safe choice in Lagos. It's widely sold; just check the seal is intact before you buy.
Where this rating comes from
There’s no single official dataset for city-level tap water, so the Lagos rating is drawn from Nigeria’s national water-safety assessment and conditions specific to the city alongside CDC traveler guidance. For the official monitoring behind it, see tap water in Nigeria or the methodology.