Water

lbaxandall
lbaxandall Posts: 62 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I know tap water isn't the best for you, but when push comes to shove... drink tap water, or don't drink water at all? (Sorry if this sounds silly but it's honestly been weighing on my mind!)

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Oh my goodness gracious. I could send you scare articles on the dangers of filtered water (and there are dangers, like poor filter maintenance), but what's the point? Water is good. Tap water is excellent. Local tap water may have dissolved minerals naturally in the water that is good for you, and fluoridation has helped reduce cavities for the nation. Chlorination kills things that are worse for us than a little chlorine.

    Here are the areas of the world where the water is naturally fluoridated.
    OralAnswers_Worldwide_Fluoride_Distribution_Chart.png

    http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chlorine.pdf

    Safe drinking water is one of the seventeen Sustainable Development goals. Love your tap water. http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/water/map.html

    A person can live a few minutes without air, a few days without water, and a few weeks without food. Breathe, drink, and eat.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    Unless the tap water is legitimately unsafe in your area, you can and should drink it. Get a Brita filter or similar if you find the taste unpleasant.

    Most inexpensive bottled water has the same additives as your tap water anyway (most of it IS just filtered tap water) and as @jgnatca says, that stuff is benign anyway. No need to get conspiracy-theory-happy on fluoridation and chlorination.

    Seriously.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    By the way, I learned something about well water one day that made a lot of sense. Undisturbed ground water is normally free from any contamination, as the earth acts as a giant filter.

    http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/water-eau/well-puits-eng.php
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Is your tap water from your city or from your own well?
    City water is safe most of the time.
  • lbaxandall
    lbaxandall Posts: 62 Member
    @RodaRose it's town water!

    At work I don't have the option of a Brita, I could at home though! You just hear so many things about the gross things in town water, I thought I'd just ask.
  • Unknown
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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Your town's water quality reports should be publicly available. Think about this. Water or no water? Water wins. You can boil your work water and make tea.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    Most of what you hear about "gross things in town water" is fearmongering, unless you live in a small village in Africa or something. I doubt there's a city/town in America that has truly unsafe drinking water.

    We lived in a very rural area for a few years and got our water from a well on our property. We then moved into town, where we're on city water. My wife and mother in law both say the city water smells and tastes funny - I don't notice one bit of difference from our well water. What I do notice is that we get a lot less mineral buildup on our faucets, shower heads, etc. from city water than we did from the well. Wife and MIL prefer to drink bottled water, I guzzle our tap water by the gallon and don't think twice about it.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    A lot of bottled water is just tap water
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    A lot of bottled water is just tap water

    ^ True as well.
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
    Unless you live in a third world country then the chances are exceptionally high that the water that comes out of your tap is perfectly safe.
  • lbaxandall
    lbaxandall Posts: 62 Member
    Thank you for all the responses and confirming I was overthinking it! ;) I will continue to drink my tap water carefree!

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