FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - How potable / non-potable is the water on an aircraft?
Old Jun 9, 2016 | 10:18 am
  #14  
FWAAA
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Originally Posted by itsMoe
I was under the impression that brewing coffee includes boiling the water, which is a generally accepted procedure for making water laced with microorganisms potable.
Purifying water by boiling requires a rolling boil for several minutes; that ain't happening in onboard coffee makers.

Heating coffee water briefly to 180 or 190 isn't going to kill all the lifeforms in the water.

And even if they did try to boil it - don't forget that water boils at lower temperatures at ~8,000 feet (the cabin altitude at cruise).
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