What's wrong with tap water?

[danbob]

I'll tell ya what's wrong with tap water....it's full of chlorine in almost every city in the USA. I can't stand it, I get physically ill if it passes my lips. Though it never does, because I can smell it in advance and don't drink. I can even smell all the free chlorine when flushing a toilet in town, and it makes me nauseous....even more than what I flushed...ooo, lets not go there!

At home I have pure spring water. Lots of people with well water do great too, but there are many places in the US where well water is contaminated with stuff you can't taste or smell. But most municipal tap water supplies are loaded with chlorine. When I travel, I fill my water jugs and canteens with water from home.

But when that runs out on a trip......what to do but buy bottled water (at least I buy the 2-3 gallon jugs, and it's purified water, NOT spring water!) And I re-use any water bottles or jugs that I buy. When visiting friends in town, if I can I bring my own Brita filter, which seems to remove the chlorine to the point it doesn't make me ill.

In any case -- I felt I HAD to answer Ladyfisher's question from the article, since it was wide open. And Google up "Nestle Waters" -- both their website, and news articles about their environmental impact, it's terribile. I don't buy 'spring water' when mine runs out, I buy 'purified water.' In other words, tap water with the chlorine removed. SO my question is......when I travel around the USA for both fishing and business......>>>

Why, in the USA, are there not numerous convenience stores where one can fill one's canteen with purified tap water for pennies? It seems the third world countries have us beat there. Sure, most soda fountains have a 'water' tab that does indeed filter most of the chlorine out, otherwise your Coke or Pepsi would taste terrible. But just try to put your own canteen up to it at the I-25 Flying J truck stop in Cheyenne WY! I've been 'required' to pay a dollar for a quart, AND use a disposible soda cup that I then have to throw away. Numerous times.

End of rant. ahem, sorry. Rampant development of our natural water sources to bottle spring water in plastic bottles is a BIG environmental problem, from a water supply, fisheries impact, and a plastics standpoint. Buying water imported from Fiji is absurd, kind of like buying organic apples from New Zealand. But I felt I HAD to answer the question, "what's wrong with tap water?"

DANBOB

[DG]

I have lived very few places that I would drink the tap water, given a choice. Pretty nasty here, actually. And the last town I used to live in, I fished in the water source. When the lake rolled over, you could smell it in the drinking water.

http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contami...dex.html#micro

[DShock]

I am very fortunate to have good tasting Tap water. I heard from my Niece that Las Vegas water isn't very good tasting. It would be interesting to hear from everyone what their opinion is of "Their" Tap water???
Doug

[Greg F]

At my old house, I had a well and the water was sweet straight from the well. Here, it's from municipal wells so it is good water, just a lot of minerals so I have to have a water softener so I have a purifier in the kitchen for drinking. In the next city the water is from a river and a lake so it tastes horrible. Whenever it rains and the water is turbid they add tons of clorine. You can smell it. Anyway, a friend lives there and he has a reverse osmosis water filter under his kitchen sink, too, and the water tastes great from the filter.

Nestle now wants to bottle water from the McCloud river area in California. http://mccloudwatershedcouncil.org/nestle/index.html

[RDL]

I fished in the water source. When the lake rolled over, you could smell it in the drinking water.

Thats the situation here, and about 3 months ago we also got an advisory that random testing indicated our water supply contained enough lead to be a concern.

[Flyandtie1]

Our tap water is average, Not that good tasting. I don't like to drink it

[gonfishn]

RDL,you should check your water suppliers consumer confidence report.
That along with a source water lead and copper test report will tell you if the lead contamination is from the water source'related to your municipalities piping orin the home plumbing.
With treatment lead can be removed at the source. If it's due to an out dated distribution system Your distributor may have to start treating with orthophosphate or poly-orthophosphate to reduce the amount of lead leaching from the pipes.
We went through a similar event this year.Our source water and distribution were fine but we had excessive failures due to outdated plumbing in homes.
Don't freak if your town fails a water test for lead call your public works department and ask what caused the failure.They more than likely will be able to fill you in on all the test info and possibly even set your home up for CU/PB testing. If you fail they will also be able to recommend treatment and remediation methods for your home.

[gonfishn]

I work in water treatment,I admit i'm still a rookie but I can tell you that public water is so heavily regulated that you would be amazed .
by the time your water gets to you it has been prefiltered,flocculated, settled,filtered disinfected {chlorine ozone ultraviolet},possibly flouridated,had the PH balanced for minimal corrosivity/alkalinity and any of a hundred other possible treatments by the time it arrives at your tap.I go out of my road to grab a glass of tap water when i'm out of town to compare taste,some are better,some are worse.I have worked with chlorine enough that I've really developed a respect for it's disinfection qualities.You would be surprised at how little chlorine there actually is in your water.PS. a bonus chlorine outgasses quickly in a open air enviroment.Don't like the taste,leave a pitcher of water in the fridge overnight and compare the taste to your tap water.see if you notice a difference.

[Deezel]

The best water, and if it's not the best it's among the top 5, tapped or bottled, comes from the Neversink Reservoir (it's fished). This is the reservoir that supplies NYC. That's not only my opinion. It's the opinion of annual 'taste tester' surveys.

Deezel

[Clarkii]

And I re-use any water bottles or jugs that I buy. When visiting friends in town, if I can I bring my own Brita filter, which seems to remove the chlorine to the point it doesn't make me ill.
DANBOB

hey- you forgot to mention the phthalates within the plastic you are 're-using'- real nasty chemical containers we drink out of in an effort to be healthy- but hey- the phthalates are all around us - i am breathing them in as i type... look it up.
i also try to drink spring or purified H2O- i don't think the brita actually removes chlorine from the water- only the smell and taste- at least the one i have....
yep, hard to find good water.

Clarkii.