Is drinking tap water healthy?

happysherri

I grew up drinking tap water (city) and still drink tap water (same city) and I feel great. Seems fine to me, so I will keep my money in my pocket - refrain from buying bottled water and continue to drink my tap water. I do agree with others, I'm sure it depends on the area.

Unknown

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3bambi3

For all those in the US saying 'as long as you don't live in Flint...' it is actually a much larger problem. Reuters found that thousands of areas across the country where lead poisoning levels are at least that in Flint, and in many cases up to twice as high. You can check your municipality online in most cities.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-testing/

peleroja

I have nothing to contribute apart from that I love tap water and I think it's the ecologically responsible choice and I'm all about those trace minerals. I know my city takes excellent care of its drinking water and has very strict guidelines for daily testing and high standards.

My husband runs it through a Brita filter but I never bother.

I lived in Spain for a while years ago and lived with a guy who worked in the water department for the city we lived in...literally no one drank the water there except for us and the poor guy was like "IT'S FINE, DRINK IT, I SLAVE AWAY SO THIS STUFF IS SAFE AND HEALTHY BUT YOU PEOPLE JUST WASTE MONEY ON WATER," to pretty well everyone he met, hahaha. Just a weird culture thing.

JeepHair77

BlueSkyShoal wrote: »

I used to visit St. Paul MN in the summers and their water has fluoride . . . I don't remember if it tasted different, though.

Bottled water doesn't taste good to me. I'm trying to think of how to describe it . . . You know how normal soda tastes, but if you leave it in the fridge a while after opening it, it goes flat? To me bottled water tastes like the "flat" equivalent of tapwater. It's just unpleasant.

But the final blow is that my dentist always gives me a bottled water after an appointment, so I associate it with going to the dentist. Yeah . . . that's like the opposite of good product placement. That's "please don't buy my product" placement.

I have always said that bottled water tasted weird and "flat" and people thought I was crazy! But we're right. Bottled water is weird.

Does anyone remember drinking water right out of the hose in the yard when you were a kid? Man, hose water was the BEST water. Just because it was so cold and we'd been running and got really thirsty. And nowadays, my kids are totally grossed out when I tell them that I used to drink hose water.

ccsernica

JeepHair77 wrote: »

BlueSkyShoal wrote: »

I used to visit St. Paul MN in the summers and their water has fluoride . . . I don't remember if it tasted different, though.

Bottled water doesn't taste good to me. I'm trying to think of how to describe it . . . You know how normal soda tastes, but if you leave it in the fridge a while after opening it, it goes flat? To me bottled water tastes like the "flat" equivalent of tapwater. It's just unpleasant.

But the final blow is that my dentist always gives me a bottled water after an appointment, so I associate it with going to the dentist. Yeah . . . that's like the opposite of good product placement. That's "please don't buy my product" placement.

I have always said that bottled water tasted weird and "flat" and people thought I was crazy! But we're right. Bottled water is weird.

Does anyone remember drinking water right out of the hose in the yard when you were a kid? Man, hose water was the BEST water. Just because it was so cold and we'd been running and got really thirsty. And nowadays, my kids are totally grossed out when I tell them that I used to drink hose water.

We used to share the hose with the dog, who loved drinking out of it as much as we did. Possibly more.

SaraSteeves1993

Depends on where you are. Where I live it's safe to drink to tapper, at my work office it is not. Personal preference I guess

Theo166

3bambi3 wrote: »

For all those in the US saying 'as long as you don't live in Flint...' it is actually a much larger problem. Reuters found that thousands of areas across the country where lead poisoning levels are at least that in Flint, and in many cases up to twice as high. You can check your municipality online in most cities.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-testing/

babmi, did you read your link?

The article doesn't even hint that their municipal water supplies are the source of lead poisoning in those locations. Your water supply has no control over old houses still full of lead paint or still plumbed with lead pipes. Kids playing in contaminated soil will be just as sick if they are drinking bottled water.

Net, our municipal water supplies in the US are remarkably safe, though some may not be tasty.

MimiOfTheFraserValley

Gimsteinn1 wrote: »

depends on where you are.

Iceland
Norway
Denmark
Sweden
Greenland
Finland
Latvia
New Zealand
Switzerland

Those plays have good water and I'd drink from the tab there.

Everywhere else.. I'd buy bottled water but I'm used to drinking clean water from the spring and I can basically just go out and drink from the next lake/river and I live in the capital region.

Most of Canada has really good water, too. I'm in southwestern BC, Canada, & the water's excellent in most of this area. In one small part of my region, the water's been treated so much with chemicals that the taste is horrible, but pretty well everywhere else here in the Fraser Valley is really good.

Like others have said, it all depends on where you live. There're many other countries than what Gimsteinn listed above that have good water, too. Just check it out if you're travelling somewhere & be very careful about it.

DavidC1857

DavidC1857 wrote: »

The last place I lived (before this one) had 7 ppm of arsenic in the water and it was still probably safer than bottled. People in that town have been drinking it since the mid 1800's and they're all a pretty healthy bunch.

Are you sure that's right? Federal standard for arsenic in drinking water is 10 ppb max. You're talking about 700x that.

I probably got ppm and ppb mixed up. I know it was under the fed standard until the fed changed the standard. Just before I moved they were getting ready to add some equipment to remove some of the arsenic.

The city water system consisted of three wells and a big tank on the hill. The automatic tank level control was Dwayne, who looked at the tank level a couple times a day and turned a well on or off as necessary.

The_Enginerd

Theo166 wrote: »

3bambi3 wrote: »

For all those in the US saying 'as long as you don't live in Flint...' it is actually a much larger problem. Reuters found that thousands of areas across the country where lead poisoning levels are at least that in Flint, and in many cases up to twice as high. You can check your municipality online in most cities.

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-lead-testing/

babmi, did you read your link?

The article doesn't even hint that their municipal water supplies are the source of lead poisoning in those locations. Your water supply has no control over old houses still full of lead paint or still plumbed with lead pipes. Kids playing in contaminated soil will be just as sick if they are drinking bottled water.

Net, our municipal water supplies in the US are remarkably safe, though some may not be tasty.

There are lead containing pipes/fittings in very many old communities and plumbing in old homes. Specific standards and treatments are followed to prevent lead leaching into the water from these. In the case of Flint, MI, those were not followed after changing the source of the water to a more corrosive source, which lead to leaching of lead into the municipal water.

Emily3907

JeepHair77 wrote: »

BlueSkyShoal wrote: »

I used to visit St. Paul MN in the summers and their water has fluoride . . . I don't remember if it tasted different, though.

Bottled water doesn't taste good to me. I'm trying to think of how to describe it . . . You know how normal soda tastes, but if you leave it in the fridge a while after opening it, it goes flat? To me bottled water tastes like the "flat" equivalent of tapwater. It's just unpleasant.

But the final blow is that my dentist always gives me a bottled water after an appointment, so I associate it with going to the dentist. Yeah . . . that's like the opposite of good product placement. That's "please don't buy my product" placement.

I have always said that bottled water tasted weird and "flat" and people thought I was crazy! But we're right. Bottled water is weird.

Does anyone remember drinking water right out of the hose in the yard when you were a kid? Man, hose water was the BEST water. Just because it was so cold and we'd been running and got really thirsty. And nowadays, my kids are totally grossed out when I tell them that I used to drink hose water.

Hose water was the best!!

Tacklewasher

MichelleNRgzed wrote: »

Most of Canada has really good water, too. I'm in southwestern BC, Canada, & the water's excellent in most of this area. In one small part of my region, the water's been treated so much with chemicals that the taste is horrible, but pretty well everywhere else here in the Fraser Valley is really good.

Like others have said, it all depends on where you live. There're many other countries than what Gimsteinn listed above that have good water, too. Just check it out if you're travelling somewhere & be very careful about it.

But, have you tried the water from the side of the road on Lougheed Hwy? I haven't but always been surprised to see how many fill bottles there.

SkyFerret

In the US, at least in the cities I've lived in, it's fairly common to receive a yearly water standards report. Basically keeping you updated on what's in your water and how safe it is. Where I am in Florida it's pretty healthy and doesn't taste half bad. Though I do filter it with a pitcher that I keep in my fridge, but that's a personal preference and not a statement about the water itself.

Erotyka

As eeeeeveryone else has said... depends where you live. I live in Scotland. We very possibly have the best tap water in the world. There is almost no reason to rely on bottled water here. I buy it occasionally, but mostly for the bottle itself - I have super sensitive lips and washable/re-usable bottles just break me out after a while, regardless of how often I wash them.

I used to rely on bottled water a lot when visiting England, as the water quality is veeery different to Scotland (still safe and clean but it's definitely very different in taste, and I never stayed for long). I visit Denmark pretty often, and while the water is also safe and clean, it tastes really weird compared to Scottish water. I stop noticing the weirdness after a few days, but I always miss Scottish water! I'm moving to Denmark later this year and I am gonna miss the water so bad.