# Cities with great tap water... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485 "2009-11-13T21:03:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/21 "2009-11-14T06:38:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Honolulu! I was told it came from some sort of pure natural underground aquifer or whatever it’s called. Cheaper than most municipalities, too; you’re charged only for the cost of pumping it to you. I’ll second that. IIRC, it’s called artesian well water. ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/22 "2009-11-14T06:55:37Z")
First of all one has to define what the criteria are for “great tap water”. Free of tatse/odor problems, reasonably low levels of hardness, low levels of turbidity, etc. What we are willing to accept is often dictated by the simple fact of what is available to us. The City of Chicago, for example, has an amazing source of water in Lake Michigan (low hardness, low turbidity, low TDS and an economic and environmentally acceptable notion of not overly chlorinating) but the two water treatment plants are completely incapable of dealing with the occasional taste/odor issues. Many systems dependent on groundwater are plagued with problems like high arsenic, high uranium/radium, and high iron and manganese. From a regulatory standpoint, all surface water systems are (or will be) required to provide filtration. In addition, surface water systems will also be required to provide effective removal of Cryptosporidium and Giardia lamblia along with basic virus protection. Groundwater systems are not required to filter (unless they are determined to be groundwater under the influence of surface water); however, as mentioned above, they are subject to other problems like iron, manganese, radium, uranium, arsenic, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Hypatia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ab992/32.png) [@Hypatia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypatia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/23 "2009-11-14T08:35:40Z")
Melbourne’s water is fantastic. If I have to buy bottled I tip it out and refill from the tap. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/24 "2009-11-14T11:46:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Honolulu! I was told it came from some sort of pure natural underground aquifer or whatever it’s called. Cheaper than most municipalities, too; you’re charged only for the cost of pumping it to you. > [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > I’ll second that. IIRC, it’s called artesian well water. Yes, thanks. That’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/25 "2009-11-14T11:49:18Z")
Singapore’s water is drinkable out from the tap, though some of it is bought from Malaysia (then filtered/processed). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/26 "2009-11-14T15:23:01Z")
> [@hekk](#): > > I’d argue that any Great Lakes city has great tap water. Plus, any big city treats their water WAY better (reverse osmosis, UV, etc.) than any random small city or town with wells and a water tower or two, which may get a bit chlorine or polyphosphate added but probably doesn’t, IME. I’ve always had Cleveland water where I live and I’ve never had issue with it. I’ve had people make fun of my “city water” but I think they’re just jealous because they grew up with well water. Ech! ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/27 "2009-11-14T15:49:54Z")
> [@hekk](#): > > I’d argue that any Great Lakes city has great tap water. Plus, any big city treats their water WAY better (reverse osmosis, UV, etc.) than any random small city or town with wells and a water tower or two, which may get a bit chlorine or polyphosphate added but probably doesn’t, IME. If only this were true. Buffalo, NY has a zebra mussel problem. It used to be terrible in the 1990s, and now they’ve sort of got a handle on it but it still seems to flair up periodically. And I personally think the water is over-chlorinated now as a result. For my money, NYC is the best. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/28 "2009-11-14T16:23:59Z")
I was at a wine festival at [Seven Springs Resort/ski area](http://www.7springs.com/). I bought a bottle of water to use for rinsing my glass. On the bottle’s label I read that the water was from the area’s public water supply. It is so good that they bottle and sell it! I believe Seven Springs is located in Champion, PA. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/29 "2009-11-14T16:33:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I bought a bottle of water to use for rinsing my glass. On the bottle’s label I read that the water was from the area’s public water supply. It is so good that they bottle and sell it! That’s not always because it’s good - sometimes it’s just because it’s there. Read the hilarious tale of Coca Cola’s [“Dasani” fiasco in the UK](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasani#United_Kingdom). I particularly like: > [@](#): > > Early advertisements referred to Dasani as “bottled spunk” or featured the tagline “can’t live without spunk”. These slogans were used seemingly oblivious to the fact that “Spunk” is slang for semen in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/30 "2009-11-14T18:14:06Z")
> [@RetroVertigo](#): > > St. Louis has good tap water. I read a couple years ago that St. Louis was picked best in the country in a blind taste test. Yes, yes we do. I hated the few years when I lived 2 hours west in Columbia during college - the water there was disgusting, especially on campus. Smelled and tasted like chemicals, showers yuck feeling compared to here. Britas were a must there. But here in STL it’s great. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/31 "2009-11-15T03:30:19Z")
Edinburgh’s water is fantastic - incredibly crisp. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/32 "2009-11-15T03:56:20Z")
When I visited Austria, I was told that the tap water there was better than the bottled stuff we have at home. It was very good. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485/33 "2009-11-15T04:52:01Z")
I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay Area (Walnut Creek, in the Easy Bay). Absolutely amazing tap water. I could drink that stuff forever. Spent college in Salem, Oregon. Funky tasting tap water. Had to filter it to get it to my liking. Currently living in Los Angeles. I spent the last two years in Westwood and currently am in Culver City. Westwood’s was about the same as Salem’s (had to filter it, but then it was fine). Culver City’s is bad even after I filter it (though maybe I need a new filter? Hmm…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-with-great-tap-water/517485.md?page=1)