Before moving to Munich I did some research about the water. According to different sources, the water quality in Munich is very good and there is no problem drinking it.
But every time I'm in a store I see locals buying large amounts of bottled water. Is there a reason for that?
I live in Prague where the water is equally safe to drink and tastes well, however plenty of people still buy bottled water. The reasons are:
Different flavors. Bottled water comes in a variety of tastes and levels of carbonation, which is obviously unavailable from the tap. As suggested by long-time resident @Relaxed, this is part of the German affinity towards sparkling drinks. 83% of Germans buy fizzy drinks, so this reason probably explains the behaviour of 4 out of 5 Germans.
Not trusting the local water supply. Although studies have shown bottled water isn't necessarily any safer.
Old habits. Other regions have water that is not safe to drink or has a strong mineral taste, so people from those regions might be used to bottled water.
Better taste. Some people think bottled water has a more pleasant taste. Although this has been shown to be a bias that doesn't pass the scrutiny of a blind test.
Convenience. People drink water outside their homes too and buying a bottle is more convenient than refilling one at the tap.
https://www.swm.de/privatkunden/m-wasser/qualitaet.html This website belongs to the Stadtwerke Munich. They state that
Alle Werte von M-Wasser liegen weit unter den gesetzlich vorgeschriebenen Grenzen. Dadurch eignet sich M-Wasser hervorragend als Trinkwasser und sogar ausgezeichnet zur Zubereitung von Babynahrung. Durch seine lebenswichtigen Mineralstoffe ist es auch ein erfrischender Bestandteil einer gesunden Ernährung.
Translates as
All values of M(unich)-water are far below the statutory limits. As a result, M-water is ideal for drinking and even excellent for preparing baby food. Due to its essential minerals, it is also a refreshing part of a healthy diet.
You can even download the values of the water analysis there.
Germans buy water bottles because they like water with gas or they don't like the taste of tap water (look up the answer by JonathanReez).
In addition, some buildings are a bit older and probably have old drains, so in some buildings the water tastes a bit like iron. I live in Germany and drink only tap water and would most often not recognize the taste of tap water. ;)
Tap water in Munich is safe to drink and in my opinion also tastes good. This is the case for practically all German public water supplies, although they do vary a bit in taste (at least to my water-trained tongue).
Being from Bavaria, a bit south of Munich, there are three reasons why one would not want tap water:
Sparkling water. Germans go crazy for it and most other nations just shake their heads. Indeed, while ordering water in most countries will get you natural water, in Germany you are most likely to get sparkling water.
Carrying it. If you are not in a house with a tap you won’t have tap water. Bringing your own water bottle from home comes with complications (you need to refill it, you only have as much as you carried, etc) so people will buy bottled water for simplicity.
Perceived hardness. Munich’s and the surrounding area’s water is one of the hardest in Germany. People perceive mineral water as less hard (even though after comparing analyses there is no difference).
Usually because the sparkling water from the bottles tastes different than boring tap water. Also the quality of your tap water depends on where it comes from. We in Stuttgart have Bodensee-Wasser, which is pretty clean and soft, while villages around here often use water from wells which is usually harder. Also, your in-house-water-pipes might be made from iron, which is worse than copper or super old stuff has even lead. There was also an incident lately where the people in Frankenthal had to cook their water prior to use because of some leak.
But basically it's the taste (plain tap water vs sparkly bottle), although I don't get then why people buy water PET bottles.
Germans use generally to drink water from Mineralbrunnen (where water with a high amount of minerals come from). So there are many companies surrounding those water sources and make money. There`s no real evidence it is healthier because the body cannot absorb much of the minerals.
Water with higher minerals content is sold as sparkling water, reduced sparkling water and without any sparkling (translated silent water.. funny eh). So you can say even non sparkling water is different to tap water.
Statistics time:
70 % of Germany drink it every day. The statistics below says water with reduced sparkling is the most bought water directly followed by sparkling water. The overall consume raised in the last 40 years from 12,5 liters to 143,6 liters, a whooping 1000%.
Since this is more a thing of religion (believe it or not) the water quality is scientifically proofed as very drinkable (tap and sold water). It is not a health risk, the controls are very strict. Some even say the tap water standards are higher than the standard of the selling companies (which is only theoretical because of the not so much tested tubes that lead to you tap). Anyway don`t buy it, drink it from the tap!
Edit personal experiences: And yeah, I drink tap water in munich and apart from full time crazyness I´m still healthy I wrote 'very drinkable' above because I have the experience that tap water in Germany was often much better than bottled water elsewhere. Usually drink plain water while on travels and though I was so often amazed by the countrys dishes I sometimes really wondered what they put in their bottled water.
Source: Spiegel Online - Original statistic by "Verband Deutscher Mineralbrunnen e.V."
Some more numbers: Info brochure of the "Verband Deutscher Mineralbrunnen e.V."
Old habits die hard. If you are brought up drinking bottled water, you continue to do so even after local water improves.
Tap Water in Germany is the best controlled food in Germany. And I do really mean the best.
The control system, the maximum values for anything inside the water are in such a high standards that it is more safe to drink tap water in Germany than anywhere else in the world. The controlling is much safer and more regulated than it is for bottled water (yes that is true, and crazy for german law but it is!).
You can find more bacteria and anything else in bottled water (but it is still way more safe than anywhere else in the world) than you find it in tap water.
It is also much cheaper if you live in germany as I pay like 1 or 2 cent per litre tap water compared to at least 15-20 cent per litre for cheap bottled water.
I never buy any bottled water for my usage at home and sports - and if you really don't need sparkling water like me you are best to choose tap water.
Note the taste of water is really different for the regions in germany as different geographical situations will make a difference in the composition of minerals in the water - this may be a reason you do not like the tap water in the area you live but I never experienced a region where it was undrinkable for a tasting reason.
It's just a fashion statement.
If you drink free water from a public drinking fountain with your hand, or demand tap-water in a restaurant you are a cheapskate with no taste buds.
If you carry a little plastic bottle everywhere, and drink expensive trillion year old glacier water, imported from Mars and bottled by red-haired virgins, you must be cool.
Me, I'm a cheapskate. I like tap-water. It tastes different in every town.
Germans do not drink (simple, regular, still) water. If you order a Mineralwasser in a café or restaurant, you will get sparkling water (it's not the legal definition but that's what you will get). You won't get tap water with a meal like you do in some neighbouring countries. At home, people drink soft drinks, beer, wine, coffee (with meals, not only before, after or on its own), fruit juice (or juice-based drinks like Apfelschorle) or sparkling water. What you saw is simply people buying sparkling water, the rest (and in particular the quality or taste of tap water) is secondary.
In most places in Germany, it's perfectly safe to drink tap water. If not, it will be in the local media, that something is wrong and you should not drink it.
But many Germans just don't like tap water. Some don't like the taste, others want gas in their water and I already heard the argument, that the quality of bottled water is better (which is not true).
The taste (and quality) varies from region to region. For example in the Alps, the tap water is really good so there are less people buying bottled water than in big cities.
I think this question is the same as "Is it safe to cook and eat food in NY NY, if so why do the locals go to restaurants?" People don't always do thing for perfectly rational reasons (in fact they seldom do). Why do people buy expensive coffee at chain coffee places that taste worse than home brewed? People sometimes do things out of habit or for status or convenience. Also casual observation is not the same thing as fact. It may look like lots of locals are buying bottled water but the impression might be wrong (most might not be doing so).
You can carry bottled water with you, in your backpack, in your briefcase, in your car, on your bike, when running.
You can put it in the fridge.
And, as many mentioned, it is nearly always sparkling water. It is rather difficult (and often expensive) to get non-carbonated water.
Finally, although some people buy bottled water, not everyone does.
Water in Munich is very hard. Therefore some reasons for buying bottled water are:
As mentioned in other posts, tap water in Munich is otherwise of great quality and perfectly safe.
An important reason that's missing is marketing and brand. Buying choices do not have to be smart, in fact they rarely are.
People buy water bottles because of:
