A Frontier Airlines passenger recorded a flight attendant filling bottles of water with the plane’s tank water. That’s sort of gross, so the video of this is going viral. But the big question is what actually happened with the water in those bottles, though. I’m not writing about this to generate clickbait, but I’m genuinely curious if the airline has a policy on this, or what I’m missing…
Some gross “bottled water” on Frontier Airlines
An X user posted a 43-second clip showing a Frontier flight attendant filling up large bottles of Crystal Geyser water with water from the plane’s tanks. This apparently took place on September 25, 2026, on Frontier flight F92342, operating from Los Angeles (LAX) to Denver (DEN).
The bottles are being filled with water from the plane’s tanks. Generally speaking, the tank water on airplanes isn’t particularly clean, and it’s not advisable to drink it. In the past we’ve seen some studies about the quality of tank water on planes, and the findings are pretty grim.
Admittedly this water is also used for coffee and tea, but that also involves making the water hot enough so that it kills a lot of bacteria. I know many people don’t drink airplane coffee because of the water quality (among other things), though we’re all different on that front.
Is this water being served to passengers, or…?
One might logically assume that these bottles of water were being filled so that they could be used for the inflight service. If that’s the case, that’s of course problematic a) because the water is kind of gross and b) because it’s being passed off as one thing, when it’s really another. You don’t pour Korbel out of a Dom Perignon bottle (not that Crystal Geyser is Dom Perignon, but you get my point).
But here’s the part that confuses me. Frontier has a buy on board menu, and for most passengers, all drinks, including bottled water, need to be purchased. On Frontier you can buy a bottle of purified drinking water for $4.29.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. Officially (at least based on any published policies I can find), Frontier doesn’t seem to offer complimentary water, unless there’s a delay that gets long enough where the DOT mandates it. However, online reports suggest that if you ask, they’ll give you a cup of ice, or a cup of hot or cold water.
Is that actually the case, and if so, is the reality simply that the water comes from the plane’s tanks? And if so, is it standard to pour the water into bottles that look like they’re purified or spring water, rather than just airplane tank water?
Bottom line
A Frontier Airlines flight attendant was caught on video filling water bottles with water from the plane’s tanks. I suppose there are uses for those bottles of water other than direct consumption by humans, but I do find this to be confusing.
The airline doesn’t offer complimentary water as a standard, but instead, it has to be purchased. However, reports suggest that if you ask, the airline will offer a complimentary cup of water. So is it standard for the cups of water to actually come from the tank, or…?
What do you make of this Frontier bottled water situation?
Is it possible they're maybe using those bottles and that water to flush out a toilet on board? I've worked in gigs where I've had to travel by tour bus and sometimes the flushing apparatus isn't enough and you need to pour in some water to help flush out a toilet...I have no insider knowledge, but if I'm giving the FA's the benefit of the doubt, perhaps its some kind of purpose like that.
Thought most lavs use vacuum systems, not much water (if any); the sink, however, interestingly, does release 'gray water' above 10,000 feet... but, don't worry, it vaporizes, just like during fuel dumps... (they say). Anyone seen Joe Dirt? Supposedly, he found a "lucky meteor"...
The showers on EK and EY A380s also dump overboard. ;) A little “premium” VOYA souvenir for those below.
This is concerning. Fwiw, other US airlines have offered to refill the plastic water bottles on the plane as well. I hope this isn't where it comes from.
Where do you think water comes from? Unless you literally see them refill from a bigger bottle right in front of you, it's probably the tank. *gulp* (or, actually, don't gulp.)
But, but... Gary rated their water-tank water as a 4.8/5 (he gave Delta a 5/5), so...
Those bottles are much larger than what Frontier sells and the ones they sell are sealed. And there is no way that they would need that many large bottles to serve the very few passengers that would be asking for free water. Those bottles of water have to be being used for something other than being served to passengers
Ben, coffee and tea and made with water heated to a temperature BELOW boiling. Drinking those cute coffee drinks on the plane is not safe either.
No idea what that FA was doing, but I have a friend who is an FA for another airline that does serve complementary water and when they run out, they refill the bottles with tank water. Yes, gross, especially since this is an airline that did not score highly on the testing of tank water. So, my recommendation is order sparkling water.
I don’t put a lot of faith in the Center for Food as Medicine and Longevity and their reporting. If you actually break down the data, it’s not at all clear how they arrived at their “letter rating” of A-F, and airlines with higher incidents of positive coliform tests scored higher letter grades than airlines with fewer incidents per aircraft.
Aircraft water tanks are probably cleaner than the ice machine at the catering facility, the...
I don’t put a lot of faith in the Center for Food as Medicine and Longevity and their reporting. If you actually break down the data, it’s not at all clear how they arrived at their “letter rating” of A-F, and airlines with higher incidents of positive coliform tests scored higher letter grades than airlines with fewer incidents per aircraft.
Aircraft water tanks are probably cleaner than the ice machine at the catering facility, the credit card lounge, and your favorite local restaurant.
@timtamtrak how bold of you... ;-)
its not advertised usually but Frontier will always give you a free *cup* of ice / water or even hot water if you ask. single Bottled waters and other beverages and snacks are not free
QANTAS pretty much exclusively uses the aircraft tank water for passengers on long haul flights.
Everyone is given a small individual bottle of water. After that whether it be during meal services or in between services water is provided from large unbranded water jugs that are filled from the aircraft tanks.
my only comment here is that those still active on Xiitter after all of the csam and nazi content deserve to be fed tank water
Or are they filling the bottles, making out they crack the bottle open in front of the pax and take the money for themselves, oldest trick in the book.
During my time as cabin crew at British Airways, we were absolutely allowed to use water from the aircraft’s potable water tanks. We even had water jugs that we were expected to refill from the onboard water supply.
Bottled water is limited too, particularly on ultra-long-haul flights, so where else would crew realistically get additional water during a 12–14+ hour flight? At BA, this was permitted under our procedures at the time. Of course, policies...
During my time as cabin crew at British Airways, we were absolutely allowed to use water from the aircraft’s potable water tanks. We even had water jugs that we were expected to refill from the onboard water supply.
Bottled water is limited too, particularly on ultra-long-haul flights, so where else would crew realistically get additional water during a 12–14+ hour flight? At BA, this was permitted under our procedures at the time. Of course, policies may have changed since then, but seeing a crew member filling a bottle from the aircraft’s potable water supply wouldn’t in itself have struck me as unusual.