Can you drink the Tap Water where you live?

[Anonymous]

My experience living in America is that tap water is often suspect. Generally people buy water with a water cooler being in some houses but what's Generally common is people drinking cool aid, coffee, gatoraide or soda.

I'm a big believer in drinking water and the health benefits. Also tea, I love tea. Americans don't know how to make tea.

Updates

1 y

Lol in response to being called a retard I responded one op

"I can only go by experience as a foreigner living in America, does that make me a mental retard?"

My comment has been hidden by mods as its offensive.

[lightbulb27]

were on a well and drink it. We question if it is ok as we have various issues that disappear when we go to Europe. But it tests ok, it's softened and reverse osmosis. nyc has some great water as it comes from the mountains "up state".

trouble is there's so many stupid people using stupid chemicals they think they need... on their lawns, on farms. People dump plastic and debri everywhere around here... americans can be the stupidist humans on the planet... it's mind numbing sometimes, but it's how we are trained or lack thereof. I've never seen so much trash thrown about... we have no discipline... people walk right past the trash and don't pick it up... I do. I see the plastics break down... and it probably goes into the water tables. That's just one set of chemicals.

There's no point in an EPA if people are stupid... meanwhile people drink "colored" beverages in plastic bottles from the stores, made out of other chemicals. ugh...

Go to Norway and drink from the streams... looking forward to that...

[exitseven]

There used to be a spring near where I lived. We used ti ride our bikes over to it and drink right out of the little stream. It was cold , right from the hills. I don't know why it dried up.

[lightbulb27]

@exitseven thats the best water when can find it.

[razelove]

I have well water, and the well water is never suspect as you service your own filters and parts. It doesn't taste as good generally as treatment plants have several chemicals you can add for hardness, alkalinity, turbidity and what not that you simply can't use on a house filtering thousands of gallons a month.
With the water plants it isn't just the funding of the plants but their policies as well. The city I live in now doesn't even have a water board, but their city water tested really well when I used it. The last water plant I worked in was funded extremely well, but constantly had horrendous quality, sometimes mixing up sewerage and water mains during road work or infrastructure upgrades. The one before that had less funding (like 1/3rd) the same amount of residents, a larger coverage area, but because the policies forced accountability on employees, like literally paying out of pocket for mistakes, the quality was higher for water, and ew had far less issues with infrastructure.

[catiecatie]

Yes I will drink the tap water here. It gets run through a filter/Brita so I feel a little bit safer drinking it. I got sick off of only drinking tap water which was terrible. I couldn’t so I got a brita to help me. Still use it to this day and it’s been since college.

[Potteplante]

Yes, that I can - never buy bottled water except when out and I forgot my water bottle. It isn't as good as Icelandic water tho - might sometimes smell like rotten eggs (especially if bad pipes) but nothing beats Icelandic tap water (or just straight from some lakes)

[bolverk]

I have lived and worked in America and I never trusted the water that came from the municipal supply, especially in the big cities, so I always used a water filter of bottled water when travelling as water from the municipal supply is liable to make you sick even from the simple act of brushing your teeth using water from the municipal supply. If I were you I'd buy a counter top water filter of the Berkey type or DIY one yourself there are 'how to' videos on Youtube. The tea will taste better.

In the UK there are Drinking Water Standards that are set by Central Government each Water Company have their own standards that are even tighter (they check for Enterococci, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Coliform bacteria, Acrylamide, Antimony, Arsenic, Benzene, Benzo (a) pyrene, Boron, Bromate, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Cyanide, 1, 2 dichloroethane, Epichlorohydrin, Fluoride, Lead, Mercury, Nickel, Nitrate, Nitrite, Aldrin, Dieldrin, Heptachlor, Heptachlor epoxide, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Selenium, Tetrachloroethene and Trichloroethene, Vinyl chloride, Aluminium, Iron, Manganese, Sodium – this list is not exhaustive and would by regional water utility.) .

Each company’s water quality is checked by their own labs and the local Environmental Heath Labs at random intervals.
Water can vary in taste by locality, I live in the North of England where the water is soft, on the other had London and the southeast have hard water which to me is unpalatable.

[Leapfrog00]

I know, the water here in America has so many chemicals. The town I live in, if you drink too much tap water, you can get really sick. So much chlorine is placed in the water, you can smell it sometimes coming out of the faucet.

I like to drink tea also. I drink it while I'm writing my novels. I know a better way to make tea. I buy brands like PG tips. Before pouring any water, I put the tea bag in the cup and put the sugar in. The water goes last, and I don't use a microwave either. I only boil it on the stove. No ice tea maker.

If you really want your tea to have flavor, use bottled water, 100% spring. You won't regret it!

[Lliam]

I'm not sure, but I think chlorine and fluoride is added to all municipal water in the U. S. The chlorine is added to kill bacteria due. But the water in many places is polluted with god knows what toxic chemicals. Some of it is toxic af. Flint, Michigan isn't an isolated case.
Aside from that, municipal water may contain glyphosate and traces of many different chemicals including pharmaceuticals. Lastly, things like barium, cadmium and aluminum are now showing up in water as a result of being spread by chemtrails because it is even in mountain snow.

So you probably won't get dysentery/Montezuma's revenge/Delhi belly from drinking water in the U. S., but some of it isn't good for you in the long run due to other pollutants.

I have my own well with pure, sweet water at my house in northern California. It's hard water with natural minerals like magnesium and calcium but those are good for you.
I love it.

[lightbulb27]

you don't soften the water or reverse osmosis it?

[Lliam]

@lightbulb27. Nope.

[sage2021]

@Lliam
When my son was three months old we stayed at my sister's house for a few months. She had a well in her yard, but I don't think her husband took good care of it.
My son was deathly ill with vomiting and constant diarrhea that he had for two years because the doctor didn't know what was causing him to be do sick 🤢.
Finally I took my son in to see him and he put him in a University hospital where they did extensive tests on him. Finally we had the answer. He contracted a parasite called Giardia Lamblia. He contracted it when we stayed with my sister and her contaminated well water.

[Lliam]

@sage2021. Eeeew. Poor kid. You must have been terrified.

I had to look up Giardia Lamblia. It is found on surfaces or in soil, food, or water that has been contaminated with feces from infected people or animals. So I guess it could come from leaky septic systems or from agricultural run off.

Fortunately, my well isn't near any of those things, but it's also drilled 60' through mostly quartz and sealed tight. We've been drinking that water for 20 years.

[mstbooblover]

Yes, here in Brussels the tap water is excellent, and when drinking water it always have my preference. I like the taste, and it's practical. Sure there's some chorine in it, but an interesting test has been performed years ago by someone just kidding around during a blind test. Different spring waters of different origins and brands were tested on quality, and the guy innocently added a sample of plain tap water. Believe it or not, but ultimately the best general quality water seemed to have been the water from the tap...

Those official results were published years ago in a special and serious consumer's magazine.

[OfMiceandMen]

I am on well water, I have several springs on my property and my well is tapped into one of them. So, no bottled water or chlorine. I had my water tested when I drilled the well, a full slew of parameters and the concentrations are better than most spring water bottling companies water.

[OfMiceandMen]

I am curious about the tea thing. I like tea too, but I have my own method. I don't bring it to a full boil. I often pull the kettle prior to a boil so it is not as hot. I was told to do that by a family that I bought Green Tea from. They said, if you bring the water to a boil it makes the Green Tea bitter. I tried it with some other teas and came to the same conclusion.

[Asker]

Depends how you do it. The water has to be boiling not tepid. Often here in America they give you a cup of hot water with a teabag at the side and it doesn't get a chance to brew. Best tea is made in a teapot.

[OfMiceandMen]

Ahhh... so you like your tea steeped for a long time to make it strong.

[Asker]

Absolutely. Normally Black Tea. Black is generall jjust tea, i didn't even know it was called black tea until i came here , then a drop of milk. Not a big green tea fan.

[OfMiceandMen]

I wasn't a big green tea fan, until someone made it properly for me. The first time I made it, it tasted like it was high in iron and tannins, like a bitter tang. Then I found out it was due to the water being too hot. It is much more mellow now.

[OfMiceandMen]

It is much mellower now (my bad)

[mstbooblover]

Very true it seems. British saying: "overboiled water never makes good tea". A Chinese specialist told me something similar: the water must be nearly boiling. The same Chinese said that for real special quality teas, the same leaves are used for 3 till 5 infusions in order to taste all the different flavours developed slowly through the process. The first thing that's done is rinsing the leaves with the nearly boiling water. That first rinsing water is discarded. Most teas still aren't fit for this whole procedure: maximum 2 infusions, and the aromas will be gone.

[OfMiceandMen]

@mstbooblover Thanks, for the other tips.👌

[PizzaDaddyo]

Funny question… no! I live in Warminster, PA. And everyone that lives here is very aware of how bad the water is. The older locals will tell you all about how they exposed toxic chemicals at the air base near by and it effected the water ever since! A few townships in my county are effected by with water dilemma but definitely not all. I simply notice after drinking the tap water as a kid and notice it’s funky taste. Growing up, I could drink from the sink at my old house every time and it was great and even the hose would be a childhood memory. But, not here! There’s definitely something still in the water and that’s why I just drink bottled water like only

[Keishio]

Is that most places in America? Genuinely had no idea. Tap water here is fine. Only places I've been to in Europe where they advised against drinking the tap water was in Spain but that was like 20 years ago so I'm not sure if that's different now. Main thing I notice in the UK is where I come from in Wales the tap water tastes better than bottled water but the tap water in South England comes with a weird after taste which I wasn't a big fan of. It was clean enough to drink but I still bought bottlesld water to avoid the taste

[Anonymous]

I live in the UK, the water here is safe but not good as we live on a giant lump of chalk, it causes problems with our kettles and washing machines and such like and doesn't taste as good as it no doubt does in other places which aren't giant lumps of chalk.

[Asker]

Limestone where I grew up. Limescale in the kettle was serious.

[DryGermanGuy]

Tap water in Germany is highly controlled and tastes good. Two former employers of mine had a cooling/carbonation machine in the company kitchen that was connected to the tap line. I never brought drinks into the office.

[Asker]

Back home my parents got a new fridge connected to the tap that dispenses water and ice.

[Red_Arrow]

It varies from one location to another. The water where I live is quite safe, and smells and tastes great. But I have lived in areas where the water is not great and sometimes terrible. One location had a terribel sulpher smell and taste to the tap water. And other problems in other locations.

[Genie23]

I never had tap water in life. My mum preferred to even boiled the filter water and let it cool down before we had it. Since I moved out, I just drink filtered water or bottled water.

[Genie23]

I don't think it's healthy to drink tap water in my state, no. It looks clear/clean and they say it's 99:34% safe but I still don't trust it because I've heard of some people falling sick from water borne illness because they used to drink water frequently years ago

[exitseven]

Yes, in the town I live in we have good water, in fact there is a spigot at the DPW barn where people from other towns can fill their jugs. I have a water line that goes into my refrigerator and I get plenty of water.

[ShellyB]

It is safe but does not taste great. What most people I know do is use a filter, either the pitcher type, or built in fridge filter.

I cook with tap water sometimes or use filtered water other times depending what I am making and if I think the flavor might be noticeable. There is no health concern though. This is in the southeastern U. S.

[ShellyB]

by the way when I was in Italy for a college program for several weeks it seemed pretty much the same, tap was safe but most people preferred to drink filtered or bottled water.

[musicbrain5]

Yes, absolutely. I am fortunate enough to live in an area where the water is treated so it is potable. Bottled water from Nestle or whoever is an absolute greedy cash grab and environmentally damaging. Not just with the plastic bottles but also with how they source their water. And there are some bottled water brands out there that are just municipal tap water or local well water bottled and sold at a markup. Dasani and Aquafina are two of them.

[Surely]

Some of the bottled water comes from some municipal water systems!
My well water hasn’t killed me yet! Has been tested twice.
Depends on what part of the country that you live in. On what you may find naturally occurring in your well water!

[loveslongnails]

It depends where you live in the USA. In some cities, it's poison. In other area's it's heavily clorinated. In Maine, the tap water in my house is good and has a low TDS for straight out of the tap. In Georgia, (the state), it's horrible tasting and has a TDS of over 230 ppm !! Had to get a R. O. filter to make it drinkable for us.

[FunkyMonkee]

Yes, but I still prefer to boil it, first. They put so much garbage in the water, you really SHOULDN'T drink it straight out of the faucet. A lot of the bottled water is the same shit you get from the tap so, people that buy bottled aren't doing themselves ANY favours!! Then, there's all that chemtrail shit that gets into it.

[VikingWarLord]

I filter the phuck outta the water wherever I go.

Lots of pharma drugs seep into the water supply too, that's why people who don't even take medications end up with weird shyt happening to them.

Then of course the fluoride in the water was meant to slow kill them too

[Jamie05rhs]

Yeah, that's interesting, isn't it? Because aren't your pipes older than ours? Since Europe is older?

[Asker]

Pipes get replaced and infrastructure updated. Like are you pipes still lead?

[Jamie05rhs]

@Irishgirl02 I'm honestly not sure!

[AmeerX]

European have better stainless or HDPE pipes for drinking water supply. Or GI pipes which are again good enough

[Jamie05rhs]

@AmeerX Oh, okay.

[AimeeKyle]

I’ve lived in multiple stated in cities, suburbs and small towns. Immediate consumption has never been an issue. Making something that you want to last for many days (without bringing to a boil) has varied. Generally speaking, it depends on the region and water supply (city, county or well) as to what the quality/taste is.