I drink tap water all the time; been doing that since I was kid in Scotland. There are however a few horror stories such as one where a village was contaminated :Log In The water down in England tend to have traces of that white chalk stuff that you don't get in Scotland as well (I don't drink tap water outside of Scotland)
I have no idea, I have always used a water filter jug that filters the water into something nice and cool and clean for me to drink. I live in London so I don't know if the water in the area is clean, I'd assume now with the amount of pollution around.
There are guidelines in the USA as to water purification and treatments. If they do follow it and the water is deemed safe, then whos to say its still safe when it has to travel several miles to your house? There are miles and miles of ways to contaminate your water. If you don't have the knowledge or a good water tester, then you should always expect the water to be less then drinkable. Boil your water first before drinking.
I live in city where the tap water is not drinkable. So, I have used the Berkey water filter in my home and It provide me clean, safe and healthy water.
The tap water is pretty clean here in the place I live in. But I'm not sure if it's clean or if my body just developed an immunity when it comes to unclean tap water that I don't really feel the effects anymore. May sound funny but that happens. When a bunch of my cousins from another city came to visit they drank straight from the tap (which is a really stupid move if you're used to drinking treated water) and they went home all sick. When they came back the second time they drank again from the tap and they're all good.
You really shouldn't drink tap water, for one not all companies that sell water sell the same as simple tap water, I know that they go through many cleansing and distilation processes, especially the bigger companies. Second of all, even if you think your tap water is clean it isn't really. You don't know what breakages are present on the pipes the transport the water to your house, many pipes are very old and were installed tens of eyars ago, they are rusted, which can carry small amounts of rust in the water that you drink, moreover they can be cracked in certain places, carrying the microbes, micro-organisms or other bacteria along the way from cracks along the piping system in walls, underground from the soil and so on. I personally really don't trust that tap water is that clean or healthy. Aside from all that, in some places the tap water is completely saturated with limestone or other natural elements which I don't think are very healthy to drink.
You basically described my country. My problem with the water stations near me is that they don't pass government standards either. But they're the lesser of evils, so I'm stuck with mediocre water.
I live in a gated community and the water system here is private so they do their own filtering. A few years back a water filtration company stopped by to try and sell their system. At the time I was using my own water filter system for bottled water. They tested the water I filtered and the tap water and there was very little difference. So I know that the water from the tap is clean.
The tap water in my place is good. They have efficient filtering system ensuring us their customers with quality water. They also have passed the guidelines set by the local government for safety and sanitary standards. The taste is just right and no taste of chemicals at all. Also we have an alkaline converter in our house.
The frightening thing that I have discovered along the way is we never actually know how good our tap water is. Some years back here in Phoenix, around this time of year we had a major issue where we were being told that we couldn't use our tap water. The government was telling us that something was wrong with it. All right, so they told us there was a problem, right? Well, yes but some suspected that the problem could of been there for months and the public wasn't told. I think there was some validity to this claim, why because of the amount of illnesses around during that time. There were people with kidney and bladder infections. I had a intestinal issue along with others that came and went for months. We were actually the lucky ones though. There were some including my mother who ended up with serious health problems during this time such as congestive heart failure due to fluid building in the body. Now in the end there was no proof that the water was the cause of any of this, so we had to let it go. But to this day I still question the water coming out of my tap, how can I not.
They say our water is fine to drink and it probably is but a few years ago there was an issue and I never trusted the water source since. I do drink bottled water both for the convenience and because I don't do tap water.
Our tap water is very good. To me it is as good as bottled water. There are some areas that the water is really gross. My sister is on a well and oboy is the water good. It is the best water I have every drank. We have a filter on the refrig for water, I prefer the water from the tap.
My country recently got an award for the best tasting water in the Caribbean region. And to be quite honest, we do have very good tasting tap water in my country so I would safely say that a large percent of the population in my country drinks tap water.
I live in a third world country. Drinking water straight from the tap is a sure way to land yourself in the hospital. The water is also full of chlorine that the smell can be overwhelming, and the water also has a rusty odor at times. I use a water filter to ensure that I get good water out. It is a simple filter attached to the faucet that make water potable enough.
It's not just 3rd world countries that have problems with their Tap water - I never drink Tap water and buy bottled water and I live in America. Our water (in Northwestern Pennsylvania) has a very strong metallic odor. Sometimes it is discolored, reddish or yellowish. Even just washing my hands without having my face anywhere close to the water supply, the odor is so strong. The longer the faucet is running the stronger the odor becomes. I would not touch that stuff with a 10 foot pole. Especially as a woman I must be extra careful in case I ever get pregnant it would be very dangerous for pregnant women especially.
Well the tap water in Ireland is awful, yet we still have to now pay water rates. It's an on-going argument in my country, because people never had to pay for water in the past. Its not so bad paying for it, if its clean, but it never is. Then again I find its not as bad as it is in other countries. I find we are better off than others, because at least we have water.
So this is why my homemade rolls and breads don't rise. I didn't know that the chlorine in tap water kills the yeast. I thought it was me all this time. Great info @ohiotom76, thanks.
Botswana tap water has always been safe and clean to drink, but this year we've been experiencing severe water shortages. The water was ok to drink before, although the taste differs from one area to the next, with some tasting horrible! But lately, I've also noticed that the water sometimes comes out of the tap looking a little murky for my tastes! It looks like we may literally be scraping the bottom of the barrel!! So i've stopped drinking it and buy bottled water instead. Better safe than sorry! I only use tap water for cleaning, showering and the toilet.
With all imprudence of a little child, I used to drink tap water from a public faucet that existed several blocks away of my parents' home, basically because I used to run down the streets and feel thirsty before hitting home, so I did not only drank tap water but from that faucet everybody has access to! At home, we always had water filters set, but if none by the replacement time, my mother used to boil the water for ten minutes. When I moved out, I was afraid of the water quality in the place I was going, so I bought one of those small vegetable disinfectant bottles to add some drops to the water. Where I currently live I drink tap water all the time, and the last thing you would see me is buying bottled water, because makes no sense to me, and I have seen documentaries showing that not because it's sold bottled, it comes as clean as believed or the bottling process is truly questionable for an hygienic standpoint.
I receive a report from the city periodically, telling me that my tap water is safe. However, I don't like the taste of the water, so I usually drink bottled water. I do make tea and coffee with the tap water, since it's boiled before drinking, and I do cook with it, since that also ends up being boiled. I don't drink the tap water upstairs, nor do I feed it to the cats. I give them bottled and drink bottled up here myself, since it tastes rusty. The pipes in this house are nasty, and need to be replaced.
