Where can you DRINK the TAP WATER?

[AviatorTom]

Are you aware of how many places in the world that you can drink the tap water... without getting sick?

Check out this map! Blue is good, Tan not so good.

Updates

+1 y

Thanks for everyone's input. The map is obviously an over-simplification. Some blue (OK) countries have places where you can't drink the tap water, and some tan (not OK) countries have places you can drink the tap water.

I guess the moral of the story is to be careful with water, wherever you are.

Reminder... In the Middle Ages, people drank mostly wine and beer, because the water was no good for drinking.

[NathanDavis]

that blue map is very misleading... lol

10 States With the Worst Tap Water in the US in 2023

states reported to have the worst water quality as of 2023:

-Washington
-Georgia
-California
-New Jersey
-Arizona
-Pennsylvania
-Puerto Rico
-Florida
-Ohio
-Texas

What Are the Causes of the Worst Water in the US?-Aging Water Infrastructure
-Metal Leaching
-Agricultural or Industrial Pollution
-Naturally Occurring Geologic Contamination

amoebas... yuck

[MrOracle]

And, yet, outside of a handful of areas, this water is MILES better than the brown areas.

Not saying it couldn't, or shouldn't be improved, but we're incredibly spoiled in the western world. So much of the world has to drink from water that is so polluted that if you put them on this chart, you wouldn't even be able to read the measurements for these states because the bars for them would be too small to see in comparison.

Many people HAVE to boil their water each and every time they use it, and are still drinking all kinds of heavy metals and other contaminants, because they have no other option.

Again, we have a handful of terrible places - Flint, Michigan, or the area in Texas that Erin Brockovich sued over, but these are exceptions to the rule.

[NathanDavis]

@MrOracle that's very true...

I've done in both Texas and Mexico, and had a home water treatment unit installed... to treat ALL of the water lines that come through my places, especially the ones in Mexico, lol

these regions have been both agricultural and industrial for decades, so I am not going to risk it

[MrOracle]

For sure, there are "hotspots" where I wouldn't trust the local water. But that's the exception rather than the rule in the western world, while it's often the reverse most other places.

[NathanDavis]

@MrOracle at least in the rest of the world it might be more "clear and transparent" that the tap water is just not safe... while in the Western World, they are not usually "transparent" at all (in these hotspots) about how your transparent water can have all kinds of genotoxic compounds... lol

[MrOracle]

Perhaps, but we also have reliable, affordable, and easily-accessible testing available to us here. I can send a sample out to a half-dozen different companies and get an analysis of my water, and KNOW what's going on. You aren't likely to have that in Sudan or Tasmania.

[NathanDavis]

@MrOracle but you won't have the millions of dollars to solve your situation... and go against corporate greed

you'll have to invest a few thousands in a unit, just like I did... lol

[Amy10223]

We have the least contaminants in Ohio! But I still use filtered water for everything.

[Amy10223]

PS why is Puerto Rico listed? It’s not a state. But I see it has the worse water of all.

[Amy10223]

Worst

[NathanDavis]

@Amy10223 better safe than sorry!!

Puerto Rico is technically a state... just not a regular state

The Sovereign Free Associated State is what it's actually called... similar to how Alaska and Hawaii were "not states" a few decades ago, but they were under USA control and influence

[Amy10223]

Nathan, I never knew it had reached that point. I always thought of it as a commonwealth. The people there are half for statehood, and half not.

[NathanDavis]

@Amy10223 yeah, same as Hawaii and Alaska... in Puerto Rico as well

it all goes down to politics... Politicians in mainland USA will never accept Puerto Rico as a state unless they are sure they will be all Democratic or all Republican, so the congress will "never" agree on any outcome... and keep leaving Puerto Ricans in the gray area

Americans, but not really...

[Amy10223]

Looks like this is the most recent news regarding statehood or not, for P. R. :

Over the weekend, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and a small bipartisan group of Congressional representatives met with leaders in Puerto Rico for public input on The Puerto Rico Status Act, the new bill on Puerto Rico’s status.

This is a discussion draft bill. It will go through a process of voter input, including the meetings in Puerto Rico, a web page allowing public discussion and markup in the Natural Resources Committee before it goes to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote.

What is in the bill?
The Act is described as “A bill to enable the people of Puerto Rico to choose a permanent, nonterritorial, fully self-governing political status for Puerto Rico and to provide for a transition to and the implementation of that permanent, nonterritorial, fully self-governing political status.”

The bill calls for a plebiscite on November 5, 2023, giving voters in Puerto Rico the choice of three options:

Independence
Statehood
Sovereignty in Free Association with the United States
A majority of the votes — that is, more than 50% — is required for any option to win. If none of the three choices should receive more than 50% of the votes, a run-off between the two highest-scoring choices will take place on March 4, 2024.

At the most recent plebiscite in November 2020, 53% of the voters chose statehood. If the same proportion of voters were to choose statehood again, statehood would win.

[Amy10223]

Taken from: www.puertoricoreport.com/.../

[NathanDavis]

@Amy10223 that is interesting for sure...

but I do wonder if that's only half of the deal... as in, Puerto Rico would lawfully be able to become a State, but then... would the USA congress actually accept them as another State

[Amy10223]

Once it becomes a state, if it does, then Congress has no choice but ti accept them as a state, right? It would have to follow everything a state would. However, I know many who are not in favor of statehood, beginning with my cousins. They feel the island is already "Americanized" enough. Many Americans live there already, especially in the western towns, on resort-like lands. One thing I know that they do not have now--are certain voting rights. For example, they can vote for their own governor, but not for the president of the US. The men can also be drafted (from the US military services). If they should become a state, it would be the poorest sttae in the nation, moreso than Mississippi. That is the reason many people would rather continue to be the way it is--although economically, the island is not doing well at all.

[NathanDavis]

@Amy10223 that is interesting... I wonder about the "generational shifts" if it is the younger population that would vote to be part of the USA, have more rights and to be one as whole... and maybe the older feel more against

[Amy10223]

Uhmmm, not knowing too many younger Puerto Ricans, I'm not sure about that. But that's a good point. I think the island is divided half and half about statehood. The nationalists do not want it. On the other hand, they know there are more job opportunities here, but they prefer to live there, than suffer in winter here, especially those that settle along the northeast.

[NathanDavis]

@Amy10223 I did wonder about it because in many other regions of the world (Europe) it is usually a generational thing, and yes, the nationalists (or separatists) do happen to be mostly, the older population... while those who wish to remain or stick together are mostly from the younger generations...

[Amy10223]

That makes sense. The old do not like change, is probably the reason why. I've always worried about the economy there, and their infrastructure. Their electrical grid is antque--and the reason why the siland suffered so much during Hurricane Maria years ago. They need to build something more modern and efficient.

[NathanDavis]

@Amy10223 that is true... here in Texas though, we're not doing best with the electric power grid lmao...

[love_conquers_lust]

@MrOracle For those reading who don’t know about Flint Michigan, it was a combination of factors when they switched over to river water. They leached lead out of the pipes. The decision was made by city council members who didn’t know what they were doing ignoring the advice of experienced operators and they ended up poisoning their own constituents.

[Amy10223]

@love_conquers_lust Yes, and I remember seeing people turning on faucets in Flint, where brown water came out. Very scary.

[love_conquers_lust]

@Amy10223 The leached lead was from the pH and chlorine levels of the water without pipewall passivation with phosphates sitting stagnant in the pipes. That’s why they were recommending residents run their faucets for at least 5 minjtes to flush out the water.

[Amy10223]

@love_conquers_lust Hmmm, if I lived in Flint at that time, I wouldn't touch that water. I'd only use it to shower, and even that would be hard to do when you think of that touching your skin.

[love_conquers_lust]

@Amy10223 Or they could not have elected morons to their city council. Or they can drill their own wells. Or take a bucket to the river and boil their own water. Or use a rain barrel. Or they could live off bottled water. Or they can rip out the pipes. All these things require a brain. That’s the conundrum for dumb people. They don’t know when to listen to people who are smarter than them.

I’d have gotten an RO all house water supply if non of that could be done. Or most likely not lived there.

[WindAtMyBack]

I've lived 20 or so different palaces in the US. One of them the water was not drinkable at all. All we had was well water. It was in a natural bowl and accumulated tons of salt. It was saltier than ocean water. At another place it was questionable and smelled sometimes. Everywhere else it was fine.

For most of my life I thought the idea of buying water was ridiculous. Now it's commonplace.

[sage2021]

they say our water has cadmium in it which I think causes cancer.

Only drink bottled water but I heard it's just as bad as tap water 🤷🏼‍♀️

I was researching on the internet not long ago and it said there are parasites in tap water. My maintenance man just put a new filter on my faucet two days ago. Fingers crossed I don't get a parasite

[MrOracle]

Cadmium is a heavy metal that is toxic, and one your body can't easily get rid of, so the more of it that you take in, the more gets stored in your body, and if you accumulate enough, you will get cancer sooner or later, because at some concentration, your cells start to mutate. If they're warning you about it, it must be pretty bad, which sucks.

The dirty secret is that bottled water is very often just tap water - for example, Evian is literally just filtered tap water that has most of the chlorine removed. SOME water is genuinely clean, spring water. One of my customers owns an old ski lodge and about 1100 acres - mostly mountainous - around it, and he has the water rights. There are wells drilled into the mountain into the natural springs that are fed by the snow melt from the mountains, and it's the most delicious, clean water you'd ever get. He sells most of it to a water company, who tests samples once a month, but it's so clean it needs no treatment at all. That's the REAL DEAL. But even then, there's no way to guarantee that ALL water from that brand is from similarly good sources, and as much as they get from him, it's got to be small fraction of what they sell overall.

[sage2021]

@MrOracle
There was a warning in this area many years ago, but they never said anything about it after that 🤷🏼‍♀️

[MrOracle]

Might be worth checking on again, but do whatever you have to do to keep yourself healthy.

[DizzyDesii]

Usa tap water taste so nasty, i dont trust it either

[jahaims]

Google how much lead piping is still used in America lol

[OfMiceandMen]

I'm somewhat lucky I guess, my well water taps a spring source so I have water comparable to the better quality bottled water from my tap. My water tastes similar to Fiji or Evian.

I'm not a fan of reverse osmosis water or re-mineralized waters they have an awful taste. Pepsi and Cokes version of bottled water is highly treated water from some really disgusting rivers. They are void of taste/flavor.

[Constatine]

😂 Yeah no problem here. You can even drink the water from de swimming pool. Always in motion and cold enough.. ( in the winter).. 😄

But it is true.. There are a hand full of places where you can drink tap water without getting sick.

To be honest Iive high up... So I use water from nature... { no tap water}. Boil it.. Cool it down... Cheese. 😄 Living semi off grid has its thing.. Sometimes you have to work a bit harder for every day things.

[TheSpaceGnome]

A lot of places in the US put aluminium fluorine and chloramines in the water, and those can make people sick as well, as can lead pipes that feed water to some of the older buildings. So the map isn't completely accurate, but in terms of things like parasites, bacteria and viruses in the water, sure.

[TheSpaceGnome]

People mostly drinking wine and beer explains why the dark ages happened...

Too drunk to do critical thinking. 😂

[love_conquers_lust]

Thanks for the map.

I had this sweet coworker from Bosnia who didn’t trust the tap water from the drinking fountain in the plant. I asked her why and she responded “I…afraid.” I felt so bad, that wrenched my heart. I told her I brought water from an RO filter at home and it just tasted better. You can get those for like $500 and hook them up to any sink. with adequate pressure.

[love_conquers_lust]

I haven’t read all the comments, Tom. But it’s also worth considering that wells out in countrysides tend to be cleaner. But MrOracle is right is that there are hotspots and it depends on what’s been dumped into nearby groundwater sources.

[TonyMetal___86]

I can'r believe that therenare some people who drinks tap water, well yes i watch in American movies that they drink tap water but why is there bottled water is everyone drinks from their taps?
In my country if you drink tap water, you might not arrive to the hospital 🤣🤣
I buy the most expensive pure mineral bottled water...

[Andres77]

Not even. My tap water smells like bleach and sometimes has bubbles in it. So it’s bottled or well water for me

[DizzyDesii]

Yes it definitely smells like excess chlorine

[sage2021]

@MrOracle
What would tap water in a brand new subdivision to smell like gasoline? When I was 6 my mom moved us into a brand new house in a brand new subdivision. Mom was at work and I drank that water that smelled like gasoline. Could that have harmed my health?

[MrOracle]

@sage2021 Once or twice? Probably not. Over a long period of time? Possibly.

If you were there today, I would tell you to get your water tested, but if it was long ago, there's little point.

Having said that, I suspect that it was really just over-chlorinated, and it was a strong chlorine smell you were smelling. That's not ideal, but not as bad for you.

Wanna hear something that today would seem crazy? When my grandparents were in school in the late 1930s, if you had a cough in school, you would be sent to the school nurse (and schools had actual nurses there!), and you would be administered one tablespoon of KEROSENE. Not cough syrup, KEROSENE. That's petroleum - basically jet fuel. Yet this was the norm. Today, you give a kid a tablespoon of Kerosene and you'll be in jail for abuse/poisoning. So, things DO change over time, as we get better information.

[Amy10223]

I'm glad Ohio is one of the lowest on the list, howeev, I don't trust it and use filtered tap water for everything. After what happened in Michigan with fracking, I don't trust how water (or fracking) is treated.

[DryGermanGuy]

German tap water is excellent in 99% of all locations. I have been in several companies where they use a carbonation machine to create cooled, fizzy tap water. It's not mineral water of course, but it tastes good.

[jennifer_bloom]

Saudi Arabia is riches for males but very challenging for females. The Royal males drive Ferraris and the Royal females live behind closed doors under house arrest. Few exceptions but most females in the palace are treated badly.

[Sjoerd85]

Here in the Netherlands, tap water has to meet higher standards than bottled water. So it is perfectly safe and tastes just as good, if not better.

[Hawkes_Lady]

I have been drinking tap water here in Oregon, USA for the last 45 years and am delighted with my iced tap water, although, for the last 3 years, it has run through the filter in my fridge.

[loveslongnails]

You can't safely drink tap water everywhere in the USA.

Unsafe tap water cities in the USA

[D_Bone_Steak]

Hmm... wonder where white people fit into this picture.

Don't mind me... I'm what they call "racist" lolz.

[D_Bone_Steak]

Jokes aside... and looking at another giving a list of the worst water in the Americas... I just came from Washington where I distilled my water religiously. Something is in their water... they were all obese and sick.

Now I have hot lesbians living next door and just realized if I open the window... they'll see me fucking my wife. Everything is better now! I love lesbians getting to watch me bone women!

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

In Georgia 🇬🇪 - You can drink tap water.

Our water is pretty clean.

In China - you cannot.

[zagor]

My hotel room in China had a sign in English warning not to drink the water.

[LaFemmeFatale_1]

@zagor Yea, in China we don’t drink. That’s what I said.

[LiamJHayden]

I added a whole house purification system when I had the house re-piped. The tap water here is disgusting and has too many minerals. I would not cook or make ice cubes with it, let alone drink it.

[rachel776]

i have a house near Nashville where some people have wells and drink the water

[katiesmuff]

We do at my house, at my work, at the country club actually most everywhere around here.

[Jaximus-Lion]

All of Sweden... It is soooooooo delicious 👌

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

I'm part of Pennsylvania, U. S. guess that makes me part of the worst tap water.

[RobT312]

Ha! Don’t believe it. USA shouldn’t be blue

[exitseven]

Where I live we have really good tap water. There is a spigot at the town barn and people from surrounding towns come and fill their jugs.

[RedInnocent68]

From any tap in the house! But I stick to the fridge, which has a filter. It been not as good this year…

[Mansearching]

Been drinking the tap water for 46 years and no problems. All my ailments are self inflicted.

[msc545]

You certainly cannot safely drink it in Flint Michigan.

[Anonymous]

sucks for those people. now they have to waste even more plastic.

[jahaims]

I'm not drinking tap water anywhere without specific filtration.

[Sparkie460]

My tap water comes from my well and it is contaminated with high levels of magnesium, pfos and pfoa

[dolemite58]

parts of the south i’ve heard have the cleanest drinking water from the aquifer they’re on.

[YAsQuen]

can we overlay this map with suicide rates and testosterone levels?

[Farcadi]

Here in Africa you can’t just drink any tap water to avoid typhoid

[jogeb907433]

In Colombia you can safely drink tap water.

[caramelcake37]

poles