Ex-flight attendant warns people not to drink water on the planes: "Those tanks are never..."

Having coffee or a drink on a flight or even a meal on a long journey is considered normal for travelers. However, former flight attendant Kat (katkamalani) recently shared a video on TikTok explaining why a passenger should never order any beverage on a flight, be it water or coffee unless it is inside a sealed bottle or can.

The reason for this is linked to the cleanliness of the water tanks. Although aircraft appear to be squeaky clean, it is disappointing that an important part of the airplane doesn’t receive any proper maintenance. As per Kamalani, those water tanks are never cleaned unless they’re broken and have to be fixed.

"Rule number one: Never consume any liquid that is not in a can or a bottle. The reason being is because those water tanks are never cleaned and they’re disgusting,” she said. “We (flight attendants) rarely drink the coffee or tea that come from the same water tanks so when you’re drinking that coffee or tea coming from that hot water, it’s absolutely disgusting,” she explained.

Kamalani then goes on to show a picture of the water tanks. While the kettles underneath them used for making coffee or just pouring hot water are cleaned in between flights, the tank itself is never cleaned. “The whole machine is never cleaned and they’re by the lavatory,” she said. That doesn't imply that passengers are served the lavatory water but it’s still a disturbing thought.

This is an important thing that people need to be aware of but then they need to have an alternative to hot water for coffee. One possible solution is that coffee can come in a can and regular water can come in a bottle. Kamalani also has a solution for a lot of families that travel on flights with infants and might require hot water from time to time.

“Pro tip for all you parents, never ask for hot water and put it in your baby’s bottle. Ask for regular bottled water on the site and hot water in a cup. Then make your baby a bottle with the bottled water and put it in the cup and heat it up,” she said. That sounds like an elaborate process but it’s certainly better than your child contracting a water-borne disease.

Kamalani’s claims are backed by science and evidence. As per Travel and Leisure, a 2004 study tested water samples of 158 planes and the results were shocking. It showed that 13% of plane water contained coliform and some even had alarming levels of E. coli in the water. But that’s not all since a more recent study conducted in 2019 by the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center at the City University of New York and DietDetective.com analyzed the quality of water on 11 major and 12 regional airlines. Seven of those 11 major airlines did not have what the researchers considered clean drinking water.