# Do you drink tap water? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 6, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215 "2014-06-06T18:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/81 "2014-06-09T21:16:18Z")
Always tap water in NYC. When I’m in Western NY, I use a Brita filter. The local water there is impacted by the zebra mussel population in Lake Erie, which increases algae production in the water. The water is of course treated so there is nothing dangerous in what comes out of the tap, but I find it has a bit of a noticeably odd taste. It isn’t _terrible_, but as it’s easy enough to get rid of the taste with the Brita filter, I use that. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/82 "2014-06-09T21:38:54Z")
My home tap water is undrinkable due to arsenic and alkali. Hell, the stuff etched the paint on my motorcycle! :eek: Got a place down the street (same water source) that has an arsenic filter installed. It still tastes kinda funny. I usually drink beer down there anyway. 😃 So, I drink tap water from the house in the mountains. Drank it all the time growing up there. I have an arsenal of 5 gal plastic bottles and fill them up every time I’m up there. Sometimes I have to buy water at the store. Its $2.50 for 5 gal. Not the most convenient system, but bottled water was waaay too expensive and I was up at the other house 3 times a week anyway. Usually only had to take one at a time. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/83 "2014-06-09T22:18:20Z")
I drink only distilled water and grain alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/84 "2014-06-09T23:12:23Z")
We live in the pacific northwest. We have plenty of clean, fresh water. We even allow the Columbia River to simply a couple of million gallons of fresh water into the Pacific Ocean every second. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/85 "2014-06-10T01:54:08Z")
I drink our Cayman Islands tap water, which is mostly desalinated sea water, straight from the tap - no additional filtering needed. The desalinization process can remove so much of the trace minerals that they add back in some minerals before sending it down the line. Water without at least a trace of minerals can actually be a bit aggressively corrosive to plumbing systems. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/86 "2014-06-10T01:56:48Z")
Yup. Straight up from the tap. Sometimes I’ll go crazy and drink it straight up on the rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/87 "2014-06-10T01:57:18Z")
Yes. The water here is wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/88 "2014-06-10T04:56:36Z")
> [@sara20](#): > > Do you drink tap water or bottled water? Tap water except when I’m in a place where I don’t trust its quality, such as my mother’s house, where it comes from a deposit on the roof that hasn’t been cleaned in ages (that’s in a northern Spanish town which otherwise has perfectly fine water quality). Oh, and I learned a trick in Switzerland: add a bit of seltzer to the tap water and it feels a lot like you’re having a soft drink, only you don’t get the sugar, phosphoric acid and so forth. > [@](#): > > And are you concerned that tap water may have pesticide, fertilizer, rust, lead, copper, medications or other chemicals or harmful bacteria in it. I’m concerned that it should have enormous amounts of dihydrogen monoxide. > [@](#): > > And do you think the chlorine they add to it tap water can effect your health. Affect, and yes, I expect it to affect my health by killing bacteria. It’s got a positive effect on my health. > [@](#): > > Also have you tried the brita water filters that you can put on your tap and do you think they work and are worth the money. Those things are even more expensive than bottled water, if you actually follow the instructions. Most people I know who have one haven’t changed theirs since they bought the jar, so they’re not costing them anything beyond the initial expense but they’re also not doing anything beyond give them a heavy jar. > [@](#): > > And please state what area you are in becasue some places (like NYC) have very good tap water and others do not. Right now, the SW of Sweden. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/89 "2014-06-10T06:30:26Z")
No, our tap water has this weird, sort of plastic-y taste to it. So I drink bottled water. I’ll use tap water to make ice cubes, or iced tea or things like that, but I won’t drink it straight. (At least it’s better than my aunt’s – her’s tastes like sulfur.) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/90 "2014-06-10T10:42:09Z")
Just for fun, I’ll throw this out here. I used to be a microbiologist for a company that made products for human consumption. As part of the testing, we had to look for bacteria in the water we were using to make the products, which was just tap water (possibly filtered or processed in some way - I don’t recall). It always came back perfectly clean. One day, just for kicks, we tested the bottled water we got delivered - you know, those big water cooler tanks? It was absolutely crawling with E. coli and other coliforms. We repeated the test every now and then, and it was always the same. If our products had tested like that, we would have destroyed the batch. I always brought water from home after that. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/91 "2014-06-10T10:58:02Z")
Tap water, as much as possible. I’d laugh at the bottled water drinkers if they didn’t make me so sad. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/92 "2014-06-10T11:16:39Z")
> [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > I drink unfiltered tap water (Atlanta, GA). Unless you wanted to switch to something like Evian, most bottled waters have the same issues as tap water because they are harvested and treated the same way. The advantage is only psychological and there are huge downsides for your budget and the environment. > > For what it’s worth, I study water quality for a living. Nothing has scared me off of a well-maintained municipal system yet. I also drink unfiltered Atlanta tap water - except at work, because I think what comes out of the water fountains at work tastes off, but it’s not out of a quality concern. So I pay into the departmental “water club” that pays for deliveries for a cooler - I know it’s still likely from a municipal supply, but it still tastes better than what comes from the fountains to me. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/93 "2014-06-10T12:34:29Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > One day, just for kicks, we tested the bottled water we got delivered - you know, those big water cooler tanks? It was absolutely crawling with E. coli and other coliforms. Contamination of your delivery system, or were you testing the water right out of the bottle? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/94 "2014-06-10T12:44:44Z")
Of course, tap water. In almost every country in the world. Got sick a couple of times, but just as likely from salads or doorknobs, I’m a pretty careless traveler. Got hepatitis in Ecuador and dysentery in Bangladesh, no way of knowing if it was from the water. I lived in five third-world countries, and never drank anything but what came out of the kitchen faucet. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/95 "2014-06-10T12:52:37Z")
Tap water, 15 miles south of Los Angeles. We do have some cities around here that seem to have funny tasting tap water, or maybe just not what I am used to. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/96 "2014-06-10T13:24:10Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Contamination of your delivery system, or were you testing the water right out of the bottle? Right out of the bottle. ---
**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:** [June 10, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/97 "2014-06-10T14:45:48Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Right out of the bottle. Wow. I have a polar water dispenser at work. I wouldn’t be surprised to find things growing in the dispenser (which has never been cleaned/sanitized) but I’d be shocked to find contamination of the water prior to mounting it on the dispenser. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/98 "2014-06-10T14:55:44Z")
We have a reverse osmosis water filter at home. My husband has a big hangup about tap water, but he’s from India, so I suppose it’s justified. At work I’ll drink whatever is available. I rarely buy bottled water, mostly because since I’ve got kids (very active kids, and it’s summer), I usually have a half dozen clean water bottles at my disposal. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/99 "2014-06-10T15:06:52Z")
Yes. Turn on the tap, fill up the glass and drink. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215/100 "2014-06-10T23:46:21Z")
I’m perfectly happy with the tap water here in Bartlett, TN. I’m not much of a plain water drinker so I don’t taste any difference, but I had one bottled water once that tasted flat. I never knew water could taste flat like that until I tried Ozarka water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drink-tap-water/690215.md?page=6)