Recently I read about why tap water is better than bottled water, but I am not sure. I bought my drinking water from the 25 cents water vending machine. It taste normal. I have tried my tapwater once, had it filtered with Brita pitcher but it taste weird.
I asked my neighbor and he said it taste funny, but he still drinks it anyway.
I don't know the normal taste of tapwater, I only stay in a place since I came to US. And my friends also drink bottled water. My hubby though, can say that the water fountain in my son's school taste better than ones in his campus.
Any opinions? Which water do you drink? Is it related to my old apartment plumbing? It was built in 80s I believe.
Should I buy another water filter or just buy bottled water?
Thanks.
My tapwater changes flavors frequently. I keep lemons on hand to squirt into the water, that fixes it for me.
Every city's tap water will taste different, even though it is safe to drink. They treat the water with different things, some cities add fluoride, etc. I use tap water to cook, make ice, and make drinks like tea, but I buy gallon jugs of water to drink. I like the neutral taste better than my tap, even when it is filtered.
Just because it taste funny doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it. Still the taste is enough for me. When ever we visit Troy's family I bring bottled water because the taste is enough to make me gag.
Here at home I drink out of the tap, our tap water taste the same as bottled water. Our county water, where I live, is actually bottled and sold throughout the US as drinking water by Wal Mart. I don't think everywhere but when I go to Florida I look for it and it is always there.
Tapwater in the US is safe to drink... BUT it tastes radically different depending on where it comes from:
- What kind of filtration is used
- How much flouride they add (it's usually a manual lever that someone throws on, and then -if they remember- throws off again. So the amounts usually vary TREMENDOUSLY).
- What minerals are found in it (hardwater v softwater)
- What amount of sediment is allowed (southern california and lousiana have some of the highest sediment rates allowable, makes both systems taste like dirt... because the water is dirty. Not enough to see in a glass, but fill up a pool and let it sit, and you'll get a few cm of silt)
- What the pipes are made out of (steel, copper, PVC... and how old those are) both in the city water supply AND in the building water supply
- Similarly: How clean the tap is. Some taps go 20 years without being cleaned. Mmmm. Yummy. (It's one thing I do every month is clean out my tap... and I don't use tapwater to drink, just to cook with).
- If there's any dual running (some cities have a certain number of minutes per day that waste water can flow through the drinking water pipes, others have backups during storms, etc.).
- Temperature variation (hot water knocks rust and other debris off the pipes AND it goes through the hot water heater, so hot water tastes different than)
There rae more variables. People occasionally tease me about how disgusting I find tapwater (it really is safe, no boiling required), but to ME (since I can taste the durn stuff) it's gross gross gross, icky icky icky... and I only drink from city water if it's an emergency.
Our tap water is typically pretty nasty, but you can't even stomach it during the summers. There is a (harmless) algae that grows in the lake water during the extreme heat. The taste take a turn for the worst, due to that algae. I have issues with fluoride, so we super filter our water. I HAVE to drink the water ice cold, even then. Our water here is perfectly safe, but it's awful.
i drink filtered tap water
I have one of those 4 filter systems from Costco. A plumber installed it. It's so worth it. My water tastes great, almost sweet. The total cost was probably 200-300 dollars. We've replaced the filters a couple of times in 9 years. But I'm guessing it's still much cheaper than buying bottled water, it's always available, you can have as much as you want and there are no plastic jugs to drag home.
When I lived in Arizona, I did not drink the tap water. It has to come from so, so, so far away and by the time it gets to the tap it's filthy and gross tasting. I did at first because I drink water just about anywhere and have a strong tummy. After being seen doing so by friends, I was read the riot act and told never to do so again. So i stopped. We'd just buy a gallon jug and then fill it from the grocery store dispensers.
Here in Washington I do drink my tap water.
I grew up in Chandler, Arizona, I have lived in Mesa, and I now live in Gilbert. THe water in Arizona just tastes gross. Growing up my parents bought bottled water since we couldn't stand the tap water (and in Arizona it is very important to drink enough and stay hydrated). Now we have an RO system (Reverse Osmosis) that we paid someone to install since I was tired of storing the bottled water that was delivered and lifting it into the dispenser. RO filters the water extremely well and it tastes great. We drink so much more water when it actually tastes good. Plus the clean water is probably better for you.
It's probably not environmentally friendly, but they say if you let the water run for a little bit, it clears out the pipes. You might try that. You can also get the water tested, just type in water testing in your area on your search engine.
I've heard some bottled water is basically tap water and it adds a lot of plastic to the environment.
it's a pity the brita doesn't do the trick. we have awesome well water and i'm SO grateful. tap water in most places tastes vile to me. but a brita usually helps.
i'd get it tested AFTER it's been filtered and see what particulate shows up. if it's still alarming, go to bottled water. but if it tastes and tests okay, the water filter is probably the way to go. it's a crime how horribly we've destroyed the incredible precious resource of water in the developed world.
khairete
S.
Well, perhaps it tastes funny because you just got to the US. Try a Britta filter and follow the directions closely. If that doesn't work, let the tap run for about 3 minutes, fill a pot, and boil it. Let it cool and refrigerate. If that does not work, go with the bottled.
If the tap water is filtered, like through a Brita, it should taste just fine. Perhaps it was not cold enough? Bottled water can taste plasticy and stale in my opinion. We drink filtered tap water. Drinking only bottled water is really irresponsible in my opinion.
I drink tap water, not filtered, but I do buy bottled water sometimes for convenience. The water in our city tastes great, except for about a week each summer a harmless algae gives it a funny (not terrible) taste. Even if your water tastes funny it has to be safe to drink. I don't think plumbing from the 80's would be considered old.
Try filling a pitcher with your tap water and putting it in the fridge overnite - sometimes just letting it sit will help (just don't drink the very last bit where stuff settles, that might be the cause of the taste).
Tapwater in the Phoenix area is always bad tasting, but there's nothing harmful in it. When we lived there, I drank it and got used to the taste after a while.
our tap water here is really gross. We were drinking the water that is filtered through our fridge, but it broke and our landlord won't fix it (the whole freezer door has to be replaced and they said it's too expensive), so I tried drinking tap water. It was so gross and after a couple days I ended up with a really bad stomach ache, so I buy water bottles. Yeah it's a big pain to have to do that, but we are not planning on renewing our lease here so it's only temporary
