Is it ok to drink water from your tap or faucet if you have a water filter on it to purify the water?

Question

or is it better to buy bottled water?

How many impurities do water filters remove and what's a good kind of water filter to buy?

Answer 1

It's ok to drink water directly from your tap.  It's good.  It's very good in most cities.  Texas water has a funny color and taste to it (in the Dallas area anyway).  Municipalities have to go through pretty rigid purity tests.  I like the taste of filtered water better, but my Los Angeles tap water is very good too.  I drink from a glass and have one portable water container that I always use so I don't have to waste water bottles.

Answer 2

In the USA, there is no reason to have a water filter 99% of the time and then only for flavor when odd things are happening in the lakes in the water supply.   In fact, unless good maintenance is done on the filter, it can increase health risks according to research.  

  Buying bottled water wastes money and pollution making the bottles and with the current hysteria over clear plastic bottles may cause more problems than anyone might imagine drinking from the tap.

Answer 3

Tap water is fine without a filter.  Most tap water is cleaner than most bottled water because tap water has more strict government regulations than bottled water.  Tap water is regulated by the EPA while bottled water is regulated by the FDA.

Anyways, the common bottled water (aquafina and dasani and some others) *is* municipal tap water that they just bottled up at the factory.  It's not expensive because it's better water, it's expensive because of the cost of transporting it around the country.

See here - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2002/40...

Of interest: "Each time the EPA establishes a standard for a chemical or microbial contaminant, the FDA either adopts it for bottled water or makes a finding that the standard is not necessary for bottled water in order to protect the public health."

That means your tap water is required to have stricter 'purifying' standards than bottled water.

Also see this site - http://www.allaboutwater.org/bottled-wat...

Of interest there:

"An estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water is really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes further treated, sometimes not."

"Also, while municipal water systems must test for harmful microbiological content in water several times a day, bottled water companies are required to test for these microbes only once a week."

"Alarmingly, the 1999 NRDC study found that 18 of the 103 bottled water brands tested contained, in at least one sample, 'more bacteria than allowed under microbiological-purity guidelines.'"

They conclude that, if you're really worried about something 'impure' being in your tap water, then "Water filters currently provide the best and healthiest solution to the problems of both bottled water and tap water. "

Not to mention when you drink bottled water you're contributing to a growing trash problem with all those empty plastic bottles that take practically forever to decompose.

I remember some comedian doing a sketch about tap water being a french conspiracy, that some french guy one day said 'I bet the americans are so stupid, I could sell them water.'

Answer 4

I drink tap water every day.  The water treatment facility in your area takes care of the impurities.  Unless you get water from a well or spring you will be fine.

Answer 5

I use a Brita to filter tap water just in case.  I have better things to spend my money on than bottled water

Answer 6

If you were a real hypochondriac, then I would suggest an RODI system.  This is used to filter the water for fish tanks.  I believe water impurites are measured in metal parts per million.  My towns tap water is like 110 ppm, city water is usually like 80 ppm, i believe poland springs is like 20 something, and the RODI system gets it to like 8.  The RODI gets virtually everything that is harmful to living things out.

Answer 7

Its ok to drink reagular tap water even without the water filter on the faucet. I dring it all the time. But bottled water is always good too.

Answer 8

filters are used to remove suspended impuirites only like dust,small prtticles etc.

Bacteria,viurus etc needs some thing better.