The Las Palmas tap water comes from desalinated water so it is perfectly safe to drink. However, it has a strong mineral taste and can be quite high in some minerals such as boron.
Most people in the city don’t drink it and a lot of people won’t even use it to brush their teeth, make tea or cook food.
Plastic, not fantastic, garafas
Instead of drinking the Las Palmas tap water, most people rely on bottled water which comes in 5 of 8 litre plastic bottles called garafas.
These are ridiculously heavy to lug around, often sit about in warm shops for weeks, and are terrible for the environment. I estimate that a family would use at least one 8 litre garafa per day which is a lot of plastic waste over a year. This costs about two euros per day, more if you cook with bottled water.
Water delivery services are an alternative
Fortunately, there are alternatives to buying water in disposable plastic bottles. For example, water delivery services that use large 25 litre reusable water bottles, or glass water bottles. These are better for the environment that garafas but you do need a lot of storage space, and you have to be at home for deliveries.
Instead of buying garafas or having water delivered, consider installing an Osmosis water filter systems under your kitchen sink.
Save money, avoid plastic with an osmosis water filter
An osmosis water filter system mean that you generate no plastic water bottle waste, only have to arrange an annual appointment to change the filters and for maintenance, and can save hundreds of euros per year.
It lives under your sink and the only thing you see is a little tap that produces drinking water on demand.
A domestic kitchen osmosis system costs around 300 euros to buy and install. After that the only cost is an annual maintenance and filter change that comes out around 70 euros. In the first two years your total spend is 300 euros, compared to two euros per day on bottled water, or 730 euros in a year. In the second year your spend is 70 euros rather than 730. And you didn’t have to throw away hundreds of giant plastic bottles.
Even if you live alone and use one large garafa every three days, you probably spend 250 euros per year on garafas and other water bottles. An osmosis filter would easily save you money within two years.
Not bad for a little machine that, apart for a slight hum when it’s working, is invisible and hassle-free.
I did research alternatives to osmosis filters, such as ceramic filters but they don’t seem to remove the minerals that give Las Palmas tap water its strong taste.
Where to get an osmosis filter in Gran Canaria
If you are doing up a kitchen, your plumber of kitchen installation company will be able to source and install a system. Or, if you are handy, you can buy your own from Bricomart or Leroy Merlin.
If you just want to get one installed and then forget about it until it is filter-change time, contact a specialist technician. We use a man called Manuel Álamo because he was recommended by a friend.