Is my water safe to drink?

[Aoie_Emesai]

Ok here's a sanitation question for ya. Ok just recently i've been told to stop drinking our sink water, is it really that dangerous... i mean unsafe to drink it? I know that the ground water isn't so clean, but how much can it affect me that is?

Should I stop drinking out well water and start drinking out of the distilled water like my other folks do?

[anti-random]

^ i don't know. I guess depending where you live has a major effect, If the ground water is coming via city pipes then I don't see the problem.

[jedinat]

I dunno... is the water green? If you start throwing up, or get bleeding sores in your mouth you might start drinking distilled water. (how could anyone answer not knowing where you live? I pretty much always drink tap water, let the govt worry about cleaning my water, I don't care)

[Kyuusai]

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

Ok here's a sanitation question for ya. Ok just recently i've been told to stop drinking our sink water, is it really that dangerous... i mean unsafe to drink it? I know that the ground water isn't so clean, but how much can it affect me that is?

Should I stop drinking out well water and start drinking out of the distilled water like my other folks do?

The answer to this depends entirely on your local area's water problem. It could be harmless, or it could be life threatening with one glass. I've seen situations throughout that range.

Basically, get details before you continue drinking from the tap.

[Ledgem]

My credentials: I've taken a number of water sanitation, engineering, technology, etc. classes during my three-year stint as an environmental engineering major.

As people have said, it depends on your area. If you're on a community water supply, all water must be purified, regardless of where it's coming from. In places like Hawaii the purification process isn't very intense, becuse the soil there does a good job of filtering the water. In other areas, such as those that derive their water from rivers, the water may more extensively be purified to remove particulate matter and microorganisms.

If you have your own water supply (my home in New York has this), you're reponsible for filtering your own water. Your house should have come equipped with a pretty massive Brita filter or an equivalent. If you or your family aren't keeping on top of the filter maintenance, the sanity of your water cannot be guaranteed. Similarly, if you live in an old building or area and you're very worried, check around to see if any lead pipes are still in use. If so, avoid drinking that water if you can help it - anything that is picked up from the pipes has already been purified and won't be purified again (unless you have one of those sink filters, although their effectiveness is questionable).

In Los Angeles, at least, nobody wants to drink the tap water. Part of the reason seems cultural: everyone uses water bottles. There is a belief that water in water bottles from water distribution companies is cleaner than tap water. Here, at least, there's really not very much of a difference. But, people will believe what they want to believe. After all, some people still believe that you catch a cold simply from becoming cold yourself, not because of a virus...

[Skane]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

~ If you or your family aren't keeping on top of the filter maintenance, the sanity of your water cannot be guaranteed. ~

Off tangent a bit, but don't you mean "sanitation" instead?

*ponders "Mad Water"*

Unfiltered Water: "Why didn't you keep me clean! YOU CONTAMINATED ME! Drink me! DRINK ME!"

Natch.

[Ledgem]

Ah yes, you're right. I didn't have a lot of sleep, and I was in the middle of writing a boring paper. Apparently my own sanity couldn't be guaranteed

Glug glug...

(all other information is correct, though)

[SeijiSensei]

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, some 25% of bottled water is actually repackaged municipal tap water. This includes both Pepsi's Aquafina brand and Coca-Cola's Dasani brand.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

After all, some people still believe that you catch a cold simply from becoming cold yourself, not because of a virus...

I guess this myth is pretty common in Japan, too, given the propensity of anime characters to catch colds (usually almost immediately) from exposure to cold weather.

The fact that people contract colds more often in winter than in summer helps perpetuate this myth. I remember reading in a book about baby care that the best medical explanation for this phenomenon is that people spend more time indoors in groups during the winter and are thus more likely to be exposed to the viruses these other people are carrying.

[Risaa]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, some 25% of bottled water is actually repackaged municipal tap water. This includes both Pepsi's Aquafina brand and Coca-Cola's Dasani brand.

Aye... this is true. Though, I actually suspect the 25% to be too low... I would guess that *most* bottled water is actually repackaged tap water. (I could even list more than just a few brands myself that I am darned sure came from the sink.)

[Ledgem]

One thing I forgot to mention in my sleep-deprived state: if your pipes are in questionable condition, or they don't receive frequent use, you may want to run the water for a bit (10-20 seconds) before using it. This flushes out any standing water that may have been contaminated by the pipe material or anything else. If you live in an area that experiences water shortages, please avoid doing this, or reduce the amount of time that you run your water for.

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, some 25% of bottled water is actually repackaged municipal tap water. This includes both Pepsi's Aquafina brand and Coca-Cola's Dasani brand.

Interesting, thanks for pointing that out. I'd also add on that the filtering processes from many of the bottled water companies who do filter their own water is very similar to those of water purification plants. There was a period where many bottles claimed that they were purified through ozonation (arguably one of the better purification processes; it is expensive to implement, and only a few municipal plants in the US use this process so far), but lately I haven't seen those indicators. Regardless, there is a belief that water left standing in plastic, particularly under heated conditions, will become infused with carcinogenic materials as a result of reactions from the plastic itself. I haven't seen any scientific reports about that, though.

As a final precaution about water safety, if you drink from a water bottle, you have contaminated it with the microorganisms in your mouth. Depending on your hygeiene and natural microbial flora, as well as how much you drank, within a few days the water may taste weird. I'd avoid drinking it. As an example, I once drank some water, and left a water bottle in an area where it occasionally received sun exposure. In about a month, the water had turned a noticably green tint. A few months later, what looked to be algal growth could be seen along the sides of the bottle. It's an extreme example, of course, and the contamination could theoretically have come from the air as well... (I keep my mouth clean, honest!)

And on the subject of water bottles, consider reusing them in addition to recycling them. If you're not afraid of your tap water, refill your water bottle. I usually fill the bottle about 1/8 full with water, cap it, vigorously slosh it around, empty it, rinse the cap, repeat the sloshing process, rinse the cap, and then fill the bottle fully. If there was water standing in it for a very long time, I may perform the wash three times. I've reused a single water bottle for about a full month this way before becoming suspicious of it and taking out a new one. I'm saving a ton of money by doing this, rather than drinking a bottle and dumping it. It's nicer on the environment, too.

The fact that people contract colds more often in winter than in summer helps perpetuate this myth. I remember reading in a book about baby care that the best medical explanation for this phenomenon is that people spend more time indoors in groups during the winter and are thus more likely to be exposed to the viruses these other people are carrying.

There's always a scientific explanation behind the common beliefs, which are generated from regular observations. People being indoors more often and in confined areas is one explanation. That also applies to the ship fever (forgot the official term for it) phenomenon, whereby people on cruise ships occasionally all get sick. They're all confined to a similar region, and the pathogens can spread much more easily.

Part of the reason why people get sick so easily when they become cold is because it puts stress on the body. I don't think that we know exactly what happens when the body is placed under stress, partially because it varies from person to person. The immune system does not function as efficiently, among other body processes. The facts are that you have in your body, at this very moment, a number of bacteria and viruses. The reason why you're not "sick" is because your immune system keeps their numbers very low. Symptoms of illness are generally only generated when pathogens reach sufficient levels either to cause problems within your body or to trigger your immune system to heightened activity (ironically, almost all discomfort during most sicknesses is generated by your immune system, rather than the virus/bacteria).

When your body is stressed, that presents an opening for the pathogens within your body to increase their numbers. This, in turn, drives the immune system to a frenzied state, resulting in what we perceive as sickness. Note that stress can come in many forms: suffering extreme heat or cold places stress on the body physically, as does a lack of sleep or nutrition. Emotional stress also impacts the body - one particular virus (the herpes virus), which normally lies dormant within our nerve cells after an initial round of activity, responds to stress by becoming active. This explains why some people have cold sore break-outs when they become frazzled.

The theory about becoming wet/having wet feet and becoming sick is actually linked to your body becoming cold. Water on your body sucks heat away from the region(s) of your body that it touches, eventually taking in enough energy (in the form of heat) and evaporating. This is the principle behind how your body cools itself with sweat. However, even if your body doesn't sweat, any water will have the same effect. Heat, like most other energy, flows from a high to a low. Water that fell from the sky will be rather chilly compared to our body temperature, and will suck the heat away from your body.

Isn't science great?

[Terrestrial Dream]

Maybe you could boil the water and make barely water or something? That's the only solution I could think of, and that's what my mom did before having a filter. This is the only thing I could think of and I doubt this will be actually helpful, since it's really annoying to make one from what I seen.

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by hyperlion

Maybe you could boil the water and make barely water or something? That's the only solution I could think of, and that's what my mom did before having a filter. This is the only thing I could think of and I doubt this will be actually helpful, since it's really annoying to make one from what I seen.

Thats what i do all the time. Dont have a filter so i just boil some tap water and pour it into a jug to cool down. remember: heat kills bugs (but as for contamination with other crap - you are pretty screwed )

[TakutoKun]

If you begin to think that contamination is a third-world problem, here is an article talking about Canada's "Walkerton" water issue.

Article - http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/walkerton/ .

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by TakutoKun

If you begin to think that contamination is a third-world problem, here is an article talking about Canada's "Walkerton" water issue.

Article - http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/walkerton/ .

What was the name of that movie with Julia Roberts?.....Erin Brockovich maybe?

The one about a company poisoning the water supply of a small comunity in the US. The one that's inspired in real events. If all that fits, then this sort of problem can happen anywhere; Be it by natural causes or by people's influence.

[Epyon9283]

We got a letter a couple of months ago from the township that there were a couple of wells that were found to have a higher than normal level of something bad in them. They didn't really make any recommendations like not drinking, or boiling the water before drinking.

I kept drinking the tap water without any ill effects. We have a water filter though.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Well... I live in a town surrounded by 2 quite large town. My county is average sized compared to the 2 county I live next to which are largely populated with lots of Universities and State and Local colleges. I really haven't heard of any problems with any water supply from where I live.

I've also lived in this location since 3rd grade, so thats ---- 10-11ish years, and we've been using well water since then and my friends and neighbors all have city water but us. We don't really have any large business that can contaminate our water supply too, like the all popular Wal-mart which is a 10 min drive away ^_^. We live on a 9.5 acre land plot and my grandparents raise chicken on a small scale for a hobby, and since we've moved here, it has grown sorta large, but I don't think their waste can harm us too much. We do pour used cooking oil out every so often too >.< but since i've been here I've never had any problem with it since, and I do know im'm the only one in the family that even drink out of the faucet too.

[Asai]

Funny this topic is brought up now. I just got a letter from the Shire Water Council where my new house is, asking if they can continue to take water samples from my property, as the previous owner had allowed them to. The samples are taken randomly from properties on the list throughout the entire Shire to make sure the quality and cleanliness is consistent. Of course, I'm more than happy for them to as I value clean water.

Personally I think the tap water there is a little weird tasting, but that's because where I currently live, the tap water is considered the best in the country (and some of the best in the world). So I'm probably going to get a filter bottle/jug type deal to keep in my fridge. It's not that the water is bad at all, just more 'minerally' than I've been used to the past few years. I used to have a water filter when I lived in Perth, too, because the water there was very mineral heavy. Just not to my spoiled tastes coming from Canberra. Maybe I'll get used to it down there, though.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Originally Posted by Asai

Funny this topic is brought up now. I just got a letter from the Shire Water Council where my new house is, asking if they can continue to take water samples from my property, as the previous owner had allowed them to. The samples are taken randomly from properties on the list throughout the entire Shire to make sure the quality and cleanliness is consistent. Of course, I'm more than happy for them to as I value clean water.

Personally I think the tap water there is a little weird tasting, but that's because where I currently live, the tap water is considered the best in the country (and some of the best in the world). So I'm probably going to get a filter bottle/jug type deal to keep in my fridge. It's not that the water is bad at all, just more 'minerally' than I've been used to the past few years. I used to have a water filter when I lived in Perth, too, because the water there was very mineral heavy. Just not to my spoiled tastes coming from Canberra. Maybe I'll get used to it down there, though.

Personally city water (water with chlorine) taste absolutely disgusting, I cannot stand the taste of chlorine in my water, so I would take well water over city water any day of the week, except when i'm at work and have to drink out of the city water infested fountains.

[Asai]

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

Personally city water (water with chlorine) taste absolutely disgusting, I cannot stand the taste of chlorine in my water, so I would take well water over city water any day of the week, except when i'm at work and have to drink out of the city water infested fountains.

I know what you mean. I've had some really foul tap water in the past, having lived all over the country. The water here certainly isn't chlorine heavy, or I wouldn't drink it, period. I've had tank (rain) water, bore water, well water, and city/town water from over twenty different places I've lived in the past three decades, and I still swear by the tap water here in this city. As do most people who have travelled enough to know how to judge it.

Tank (rain) water is the best, ultimately, but you have to keep the tanks clean and filtered, because you get wrigglers in it. Also if you have a fireplace in the house, it can pollute the water since the smoke from it will build up on the roof, which then gets washed in to your tank. Not too tasty. Also if you live in a city your roof is likely to collect all sorts of crud which will be washed in to it. So really, you should still filter tank water.

But, as I said, the water in this city is the best for something straight out of the mains system.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

Personally city water (water with chlorine) taste absolutely disgusting, I cannot stand the taste of chlorine in my water, so I would take well water over city water any day of the week, except when i'm at work and have to drink out of the city water infested fountains.

I think you meant water with fluorine in it. Water is chlorinated as part of the purification process is many purification plants, but the water should be dechlorinated before it goes out. Fluorine is added to the water in many parts of the US as part of an effort for... oral hygeine, I think it was... (there are many conspiracy theorists who claim it's for something else.)