# New York City tap water **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2011, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012 "2011-07-06T09:38:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aommm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@aommm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aommm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/1 "2011-07-06T09:38:12Z")
Does anyone else get nauseous feeling, followed by diarrhea after drinking new york city tap water? I get that every time, thus have to resort to buying poland spring…😕 ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/2 "2011-07-06T11:52:43Z")
No. In fact, last I heard (_cite needed_) NYC has the best and cleanest drinking water of any major metropolitan area in the US. Maybe your system is just accustomed to different water. Where are you from? ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/3 "2011-07-06T12:36:33Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > No. In fact, last I heard (_cite needed_) NYC has the best and cleanest drinking water of any major metropolitan area in the US. There were some guys bottling and selling NYC Tap Water and advertising that’s where it came from. Never made it up to this market (Boston) that I could see. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/4 "2011-07-06T12:43:22Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > There were some guys bottling and selling NYC Tap Water and advertising that’s where it came from. > > Never made it up to this market (Boston) that I could see. Hmm, maybe there’s a gap in the market for _Recycled_ NYC Tap Water? It’s greener, y’see. (Well, yellower, but that’s just the light, honestly) ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/5 "2011-07-06T12:48:12Z")
Are you allergic to [Shellfish](http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/31/drink-up-nyc-meet-the-tiny-crustaceans-not-kosher-in-your-tap-water/), aommm? ---
**Author:** ![aommm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@aommm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aommm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/6 "2011-07-06T13:30:07Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > Are you allergic to [Shellfish](http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/31/drink-up-nyc-meet-the-tiny-crustaceans-not-kosher-in-your-tap-water/), aommm? Not allergic to any fish, just apples,fresh carrots and almonds. I’m from Russia originally, but have been in the states for 15 years, system should be accustomed by now 🙂 Maybe it’s due to old pipes in my building…Or all that fluoride they add to the city water. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/7 "2011-07-06T13:36:38Z")
No, I’ve never had that problem. I drink filtered tap water all the time, but even when I get some regular tap water in my mouth from the shower or something, it’s never caused me any problems. > [@aommm](#): > > I’m from Russia originally, but have been in the states for 15 years, system should be accustomed by now 🙂 Maybe it’s due to old pipes in my building…Or all that fluoride they add to the city water. Just about all the tap water in the U.S. is fluoridated, and I don’t think NYC adds more fluoride than anywhere else ([0.7 to 1.2 parts per million](http://www.health.state.ny.us/prevention/dental/fluoridation/benefits.htm)). I think the pipes or some issue with your body are more plausible explanations. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/8 "2011-07-06T13:43:22Z")
> [@aommm](#): > > Not allergic to any fish, just apples,fresh carrots and almonds. > I’m from Russia originally, but have been in the states for 15 years, system should be accustomed by now 🙂 Maybe it’s due to old pipes in my building…Or all that fluoride they add to the city water. The flouride treatment of New York City’s water is [1 part per million](http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wsstat00b.pdf). Toothpaste, by comparison, contains around 1100 ppm of flouride. You consume far more flouride by brushing your teeth regularly than by drinking NYC water. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/9 "2011-07-06T15:26:40Z")
Atlanta water made me sick the first 3 or 4 times I visited. Seems like I finally built up a tolerance or immunity eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/10 "2011-07-06T15:30:57Z")
Both my wife and I have had rather unpleasant gastrointestinal experiences both times we visited, but I don’t drink tap water anywhere in the US. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/11 "2011-07-06T17:01:14Z")
I drink tap water where ever I live, never had a problem. New York’s is pretty good, but actually, Cleveland’s is just a touch better tasting to me. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/12 "2011-07-06T18:52:33Z")
At home (Montreal) I filter my water. When I was growing up (Philadelphia) the water was awful tasting. But for my taste, NY City tap water is the best tasting water in the world. When I subscribed to Consumer Reports, they used NYC tap water as the standard against which they compared bottled waters. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/13 "2011-07-06T19:50:49Z")
I’ve always found NYC tap water to be excellent. In fact, about the only place i’ve spent any time in the US that has crappy drinking water is right here in San Diego. The water that comes through the taps here taste pretty awful. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/14 "2011-07-06T20:34:35Z")
Are you permanently in NYC or just visiting regularly? If the second, I wonder if it’s something else in your visits that’s the problem (hot dog carts, all-night partying, subway smell, that one ethnic food place your friends take you to every time, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/15 "2011-07-06T20:41:41Z")
It isn’t the NYC tap water that is a problem, just the change in water treatment. I grew up in Dallas and any time I went anywhere else in the state of Texas the water made me sick as a dog. I couldn’t drink the water in Florida either. When I told my mom about that she said when she first moved to Dallas the water made her so sick she ended up having to go to the doctor and be medicated while her system adjusted to the change. The water in NYC is perfect for me and doesn’t make me ill. When I came here on vacation and was considering moving here one of the tests I did was I drank a full 8 oz glass of tap water to see if it would make me sick. Luckily I responded just fine and moved here shortly thereafter, but there are a lot of places in the country that I can’t drink the tap water even though it is perfectly safe. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/16 "2011-07-06T22:16:26Z")
If you visit American city You will find it very pretty. Just two things of which you must beware: Don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air! _[remainder of lyrics removed by moderator]_ (Tom Lehrer, around 1965) I, myself, have never had this experience, but perhaps some people’s systems are more sensitive than others. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/17 "2011-07-07T01:10:38Z")
Quoth **BMalion** : > [@](#): > > I drink tap water where ever I live, never had a problem. New York’s is pretty good, but actually, Cleveland’s is just a touch better tasting to me. Go figure. Yeah, they cleanse it by burning the river. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/18 "2011-07-07T01:26:15Z")
NYC has great tap water. It’s taken from massive reservoirs upstate, leaving the upstate residents to drink filth. When I lived in Westchester country in the watershed zone, NYC owned the rain water that fell on my land. When our small local reservoirs would dry up, we were supplied with Hudson river water. You could see things swimming around in it with the naked eye. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-york-city-tap-water/588012/19 "2011-07-07T01:48:08Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > If you visit American city > You will find it very pretty. > Just two things of which you must beware: > Don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air! > > (Tom Lehrer, around 1965) > > I, myself, have never had this experience, but perhaps some people’s systems are more sensitive than others. > Roddy [moderating] Both our registration agreement and FAQ make it clear that we take copyright seriously here. I have removed most of the lyrics you quoted from your post. Next time, just quote a few lines and link to the rest. [/moderating]