Do you drink the tap water where you live?

[cousinlucky]

I read an article today about unsafe tap water ( I can not put in a link because it is a mite political in nature. )

I do not drink Staten Island tap water because it smells bad and tastes bad and sometimes it comes out of the faucet as gray water ( dirty ).

I do not drink the tap water in Woburn MA. nor in Philadelphia PA. either because of the chemicals it is full of.

I guess I was spoiled by the tap water in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts!

So I am a little curious: do you drink the tap water where you live?

[oz]

No, I consume tap water where I live only if it has been cooked into foods. For drinking water, I consume only bottled spring water although I'm not certain that it's any better in quality, or purity.

[bigvoo]

I make coffee with tap...but only if it goes through my britta filter, I will drink the water from the britta container if IM really desperate for cold water and have none in the fridge...im in southern california..but north of los angeles.

[zombykillah]

Sure I drink it ...
At my place the quality of the tab water is still well ...
It has been better in the past ... but theres no problem drinking it.

[reed9]

No, I consume tap water where I live only if it has been cooked into foods. For drinking water, I consume only bottled spring water although I'm not certain that it's any better in quality, or purity.

In some (or many?) cases, bottled water is tap water. PepsiCo admitted aquafina is tap water in 2007.

And of course bottled water is a growing environmental concern.

I would much rather we put more effort into making sure our municipal water supplies are clean and potable.

[techieMoe]

I drink tap water, but usually from our refrigerator's dispenser (which has its own filter). I don't necessarily shy away from water out of the faucet except at work because our building has very old pipes.

Our tap water here in Houston is pretty good, all in all, but in large volume (like in a tub) there's a noticeable chlorine smell to it. I haven't noticed any strange particulates or tints to it unless it's coming out of very old pipes.

I also drink bottled water, but most of it around here comes from the Houston Municipal Water Supply anyway... so I'm just paying for the plastic container really.

[gerard4143]

We have well water here which is nice but its very agricultural area so we have problems with ground water contamination due to fertilizers, pesticides. herbicides and fungicides...All that nice stuff...Did I also mention we have the highest incident rate of cancer in the country.

[gannite]

yes i drink tap water, after the stories of company`s filling bottles from taps. Maybe things are different here in the UK.

[hazel]

Sure. Tap water is safe anywhere in the UK and it has a much smaller environmental footprint than bottled water. America is another matter. Does anyone else remember that old Tom Lehrer song that had a verse going:

"Lots of things there you can drink
But stay away from the kitchen sink.
The breakfast garbage you throw in the bay
They drink at noon in San Jose!"

[techieMoe]

Sure. Tap water is safe anywhere in the UK and it has a much smaller environmental footprint than bottled water. America is another matter. Does anyone else remember that old Tom Lehrer song that had a verse going:

"Lots of things there you can drink
But stay away from the kitchen sink.
The breakfast garbage you throw in the bay
They drink at noon in San Jose!"

Actually, here in the US tap water is pretty well-regulated, as is bottled water. Municipal water supplies have to be constantly inspected by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for pathogens and heavy metals, and go through several stages of treatment sometimes before they end up in your sink.

Bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and goes through similar tests, although there are debates as to whether they're as thoroughly checked. Several major brands of bottled water in the US (Aquafina, Dasani) start from municipal water supplies and simply go through extra steps (like de-chlorinization and adding minerals for taste).