My uncle is a chemical engineer. And he used to test the water in Detroit, just for the heck of it, I guess. And he says it is quite pure. My dentist says the same thing, although he never told me what his source of information was.
It is rather sad, then, that the Flint water crisis happened. If they just stayed on the Detroit line, none of this would have happened. Now, because of lead poisoning, it may be decades before the effects are truly known. So sad.
BTW, I don’t know who has the worst water. But on my vacation to Washington, DC in the summer of 1998, I did find something rather disturbing. Did you know that DC water tastes like bleach or chlorine? The lady tour guide who was leading our group even joked about it. I guess that means it’s clean at least. But I have to ask: how on earth do you cook with it then? I would never use it for cooking. I have used Detroit water all these years, and am proud of it. And what about restaurants in DC that require large amounts of water for boiling? They must literally buy gallons of bottled water. Makes you wonder, I think.
I always thought that NYC water was the best around–at least as far as taste. Consumer Reports always used it as the standard when rating bottled waters. But I’ve been in Detroit only once.
The chlorine taste happens here (Twin Cities) sometimes in July and August. The authorities say they have to use a bit more in the summer because of the heat and those little germy buggers that reproduce faster in warm water. I filter the water or let it sit for a day to let the scent evaporate. They say the water is still safe to drink, but I don’t want my cooking to taste like chlorine so… filters it is.
In a pinch you can also bring it to a boil. The bleach or related chlorine containing compound reacts and breaks down faster in hot water. The boiling also agitates it. Simply pouring the water back and forth between containers a couple times can reduce chlorine taste because of the agitation and aeration. Boiling gives you both effects.
File that under strange things I learned thanks to the US Army.
I’ve always heard NYC’s water is right up there as well. Hard to imagine it could be significantly better than Chicago’s. Of course, I’ve had very tasty tap water in many/most major cities.
I’m thinking of my recent trips to Austin, Denver, St Paul. If you lined up a series of glasses along with one of CHicago’s, I’m not sure I (or most people) could tell the difference.) I think a lot of places have REALLY GOOD tap water, and the idea of ranking them is pretty silly. The only sense in discussing it is for places that DON’T have good tap water.
I think he just tested Detroit. But he still said it was quite good. (BTW my uncle lives in one of the Grosse Points [there’s more than one;)]. But as I understand it, they are on the Detroit line like Flint used to be.)
It’s not “Detroit” water; it’s regional water. It used to be Detroit-provided, but we wisely overcame their corruption and took control of their system regionally. Strictly speaking, Detroit still owns it, but overall, long story made short is that it’s not Detroit water.
ISTM that Aquafina bottles thier water in Detroit. BTW, worst water award honorable mention has to go to Alamagordo, NM. I normally can handle tap water but not there.
Am I the only one who really cannot detect any difference between tap water from different places? I mean, I’ll notice if there’s so much rust that it’s actually discolored, but that’s rare. To me it all smells and tastes like … water.
