Drink with caution. A city-specific assessment for Rio de Janeiro.
Can you…
Can you drink the tap water in Rio de Janeiro?
Last reviewed 2026 · Brazil
Rio de Janeiro scores 47/100 for tap-water safety — drink with caution. So if you’re asking whether the tap water is safe in Rio de Janeiro, 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 Rio de Janeiro?
- 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 Rio de Janeiro?
Boiling is a reliable fallback in Rio de Janeiro. 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 Rio de Janeiro?
Many visitors to Rio de Janeiro 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 Rio de Janeiro safer to drink. For short stays, bottled water is still the simplest option.
How Rio de Janeiro compares to the rest of Brazil
Rio de Janeiro is rated 47/100, against 58/100 for Brazil as a whole — treat local tap water more cautiously than the national figure suggests.
Common questions about tap water in Rio de Janeiro
Can you drink tap water in Rio de Janeiro?+
Rio de Janeiro scores 47/100 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 Rio de Janeiro?+
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 Rio de Janeiro?+
Avoid ice — it’s frequently made from untreated water.
Is tap water in Rio de Janeiro 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 Rio de Janeiro score is derived from Brazil’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 Brazil.
Read the full methodology — how the 0–100 score is built and what it does (and doesn’t) mean.