Can you drink tap water in the United Arab Emirates?

What World Health Organization publishes

Population using safely managed drinking-water services, the United Arab Emirates, 2022: 98.6%.

World Health Organization defines that indicator as: “The percentage of population drinking water from an improved source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, rainwater, and packaged or delivered water.” (World Health Organization, read 19 September 2026).

The estimate covers the whole of 2022: it is an annual figure, and World Health Organization publishes no month or day for it.

The profile card read “Safely managed drinking water United Arab Emirates, 2022” when we read it on 19 September 2026.

Source: World Health Organization — dated 2022, read 19 September 2026

Regional variation

The World Health Organization country profile this page cites publishes no urban or rural breakdown of this figure for the United Arab Emirates, so this page states none.

Source: World Health Organization — dated 2022, read 19 September 2026

What an independent test shows

We have not tested the water in the United Arab Emirates ourselves. Nothing on this page is our own measurement. You can have a supply tested.

What this figure does not tell you

"Population using safely managed drinking-water services" is a national population share. It describes how much of a country's population uses a service World Health Organization counts as safely managed — not the water in one building, one town or one tap in the United Arab Emirates.

A national figure can be high while supplies differ locally, and it can be low while the places a visitor goes are served well. This page reports the national estimate for 2022 and nothing more precise, because World Health Organization publishes nothing more precise for the United Arab Emirates.

Nothing here is our own measurement, and nothing here is a travel advisory. For an official travel-health position, read the guidance your own national health authority publishes for the destination.