• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

The truth about tap water

The waterboy pic got me. We drink distilled water 99% of the time and at room temp even. Contrary to the myth of it being 'bad' for you....we've been drinking it for years and wouldn't have it any other way. My beads like it too.
 
Here in Atlantc City our tap water wins national taste tests every year i can remember. Its the only tap water I'll drink. Everything esle I throw through the Brita. God I love that thing
 
Detroit Municipal water comes from the Detroit River and has won any number of bottled water taste contests over the years. I grew up on this stuff and have never had a problem with it. When I lived in Chicago area a number of years ago, many of the western suburbs had water supplies from wells. Due to over-pumping, the water became harder and harder over the years. In comparison to the Detroit water, it tasted horrible. I think the Chicago area is now almost entirely on Lake Michigan water as a result of the late 1980's drought in the midwest.

A major issue these days is the exporting of water out of the Great Lakes Basin, whether in the form of bottled water, soft drinks, beer or just plain old diversion.

They used to say that Stroh's beer was made from Detroit River water.

While I enjoy water from many private water wells in many different areas of Michigan, the quality varies tremendously and often contains relatively high amounts of sodium and arsenic. Some say these are bad for you while some think otherwise. I generally do not care for municipal water derived from water wells. At least in Michigan, the municipal water supplies from wells are required to be treated and can taste quite artificial/synthetic or whatever.

Disclaimer: I am a water supply consultant for many municipal and community water well systems.

Cheers,
antaean
 
I recently stayed up in Norfolk and the water at the hotel we stayed at was disgusting. I smelled like dirt. Just like a freshly opened bag of potting soil.

I don't know if that's common all around there or if just that hotel had issues or what, but it was nasty.

I grew up on well water in Michigan. Now when I go back, it tastes a little funny at first but I get used to it. I usually just drink whatever comes out of the tap.

---John Holmes...
 
This was proven about a decade ago too with NYC tap water coming out ahead of the bottled water for purity and taste.


And NYC has some of the cleanest water in the nation. That city was planned well. The water is piped in from upstate.

And to hell with buying bottled water. To appease the wife, I sometimes buy the 25 cent per gallon stuff that "tastes cleaner" at the grocery store. F'n scam.

Mick
 
We have two RO plants out here and that's how we get out water on the ship. We take from the sea, and make our drinkable stuff. The only problem with where we are right now is that we have to super brominate the water which gives it a strange taste. When we're anywhere else in the world though, I love the stuff. When you're overseas, you have to drink bottled water to make sure that you're not getting the local sort of junk in the water since a lot of the stuff is polluted to no end. I think this is why I drink Dasani so much, is because it reminds me of the water I get on an everyday basis. :) But yeah, it does waste a lot, but out here, you have a never-ending supply of sea water.
 
I think the best and worst water I ever tasted was in New Mexico a couple of years ago. I was the adult advisor for a Boy Scout backpack crew and we spent 10 days in the mountains at Philmont Scout Ranch. The early part of the trek, we were filtering water mostly from spring fed creeks. It was fantastic! Later in the trek, we were getting water from taps that carried water processed by the individual campsites. It was almost undrinkable. It had a bad sulfur taste. As if it wasn't already tough enough to keep the guys hydrated up in the mountains, that water made it even more difficult. We had to drink that water for about three days. Yuck!!
 
I had read long ago about Dasani and Aquafina just being purified muni water. Didn't know where from though. I can honestly taste a difference between those and, say, Zephyrhills/Dannon/Calistoga/Etc. Tap water here in Miami...well it has a distinct taste, and not necessarily a good one. I remember the same being true back in the Bay area, though NorCal can advise if this still is the case.

All in all...gotta agree with Doc...to each his own as such tastes are truly subjective. But I do always still get a kick out of people buying Dasani and Aquafina, somehow thinking they are getting pure water, freshly dripped from a glacier.

Speaking of which...I just remembered a commercial on t.v....think it was for 7-Up....had the dude out in the wilds, next to a spring and a bear comes along and basically takes a dump in the spring, with the guy then asking how sure "you" are about your "pure" spring water... :laugh:


A lot of the bay area cities have really amazing tap water these days. In the North Bay I would never bother with anything else but as you move closer to Sacramento it gets a little dicier. Lots of calcium deposits and such that give it a chalky taste.
 
Our tapwater is so high in chlorine that it is undrinkable and cannot even be cooked with. We use a countertop multistage filter to render it potable.

When I drink bottled water, I'm not picky. Anything'll do. I tried that Fiji water once and it tasted like, well, water.

Wilkey

Fiji is my water of choice, but it gets pricey. Arrowhead is my everyday and is almost always on sale for 3-4 doll hairs a case.
 
If those folks over there in India can bathe and drink from that filthy, god-forsaken piss pool known as the Ganges river, then a little tap water in the US won't hurt anyone. :laugh:
 
Top