I just dropped thirty bucks on filter refills for my water purifier. In an economy where every thirty bucks counts, is this truly a necessary expense, or would I be just as healthy and hydrated (and a little richer) if I drank water straight from the tap?
Every day more than 240 million of us turn on our faucets to drink, bathe, and cook. While I’m all for those fancy filters as an alternative to the environment-harming plastic water bottles, I wanted to find out if I’d be just as well off turning to my kitchen sink for a drink of water.
Turns out, the answer to my question is similar to the golden rule of real estate: location, location, location.
Collecting the Dirt
The National Resources Defense Council, an environmental action group, evaluated the quality of drinking water in nineteen major cities across the country, ranking them based on quality and compliance, availability of information, and source water protection. It found—brace yourself—rocket fuel, pesticides, germs, lead, and arsenic among other contaminants in many samples.
Data from consumer confidence reports compiled by the University of Cincinnati in 2006 is also revealing. In a seventy-seven area study covering the homes of about 62 percent of the population, they ranked city water by cloudiness (called turbidity), halo-acetic acids (potentially cancer-causing acids), lead, and bacteria.
Though water quality purity overall has improved, some cities, like San Jose and Des Moines, boast tap water that consistently scores high in studies and taste tests. Others, like Los Angeles and Phoenix, had such high levels of contaminants that they were in violation of EPA standards.
What does this mean? For most of us, nothing. Even the lowest scoring cities’ water is highly unlikely to make us physically ill immediately. But for the pregnant, elderly, young children, or anyone with a weakened immune system, it can pose a real health risk.
Cities with the Cleanest Drinking Water
St. Louis, Missouri: Every year, the U.S. Conference of Mayors announces a taste award for water. At the seventy-fifth annual meeting, the group of hundreds of mayors announced this city as their winner after conducting a blind taste test for clarity, aroma, and taste. Though St. Louis, like all cities across the country, still has traces of chemicals and pollutants, they are far below EPA standards—so far that local universities and retailers have pledged to stop selling the bottled stuff all together.
Des Moines, Iowa: Iowa’s capital ranked high thanks to its low levels of bacteria, lead, halo-acetic acids, and turbidity. This means that if we ever find ourselves at the Iowa Caucus sans filter, we don’t have to resort to the bottle. Forbes magazine actually ranked this Midwest city’s tap quality as the very best in the U.S.
Las Vegas, Nevada: Sin City definitely isn’t the first place that comes to mind when I think of high standards and cleanliness, but this desert oasis offers sparkling clean water along with twenty-four-hour buffets and high-roller suites. Reader’s Digest gave it a perfect score for water cleanliness, and the University of Cincinnati study found that it boasts some of the clearest H2O in the country.
San Jose, California: High marks across multiple studies, including another perfect Reader’s Digest score, make San Jose tough to beat when it comes to water quality. The Silicon Valley capital has grown into the tenth largest city in the country over the past ten years, and has proven to be highly focused on creating a sustainable culture and infrastructure. Within fifteen years, it plans to recycle or reuse 100 percent of its wastewater.
Kansas City, Missouri: Looks like Missouri is doing something right when it comes to the tap. Kansas City also ranks consistently high across multiple water-quality studies. The Environmental Working Group ranked the City of Fountains extremely high in all categories, meaning if we find ourselves parched in Kansas City, we’re perfectly safe to put our cups right under the tap and drink away.
Cities with Room for Improvement
Washington, D.C.: Samples of D.C. water, according to a recent analysis in the Washington Post, contain trace amounts of medications, including anti-seizure medication, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, and a common disinfectant. The drugs that were found—which have been on the rise in public water systems nationwide—are prescription drugs that have likely been carelessly flushed down toilets. Some say that there is probably little health risk from this, but others argue that prolonged consumption could harm our immune systems and even interfere with hormone development in children and teens.
Tampa, Florida: Earning an uber-low three-out-of-fifty possible points in the Reader’s Digest survey, this sunny city’s water leaves a lot to be desired. The water boasts above-average bacteria levels, halo-acetic acid levels, and traces of lead, thanks to some pipelines that have been in place for around 100 years. Samples analyzed by Xenco Laboratories found traces of potentially cancer-causing chemicals, like chloroform, and toxic metals, like copper and nickel.
Phoenix, Arizona: The National Research Defense Council gave this Sunbelt city a poor ranking—the lowest available in fact. Water here has been found to be in violation of EPA standards for turbidity, according to The University of Cincinnati study, and a survey by Men’s Health ranked it dead last in a 100-city water comparison. The low marks are thanks to higher levels of arsenic, lead, halo-acetic acids, coliform bacteria, and total trihalomethanes levels (linked to cancer). The surveys emphasize that these chemicals don’t actually make water unsafe, but the low scores show that other cities are doing better.
New York, New York: Although NYC’s local, high-quality water source has earned it bragging rights—its water comes straight from the nearby Catskill and Croton areas—old piping and poor air quality have caused its pristine-at-the-source water to show up below average in recent examinations. Studies have shown violations in both turbidity and total trihalomethane standards set by the EPA. That said, during testing, the water also showed low levels of lead and bacteria, so this definitely isn’t the worst of the worst.
Los Angeles, California: Speaking of air quality, looks like Angelenos’ tap quality is similar to the stuff they breathe. Local water has tested high in concentrations of a slew of contaminants. We’re talking turbidity, trihalmoethanes, copper, halo-acetic acids, chlorine, and nitrate. The National Resources Defense Council found that the disinfection process also left elevated levels of cancer-causing by-products, like radon.
Now What?
Honestly, I found myself a little worried about my local water after reading these studies. But instead of living in paranoia, the EPA recommends checking out our consumer confidence reports (every area has one) to decide how safe our local water actually is.
A carbon filter, like the ones found in Brita or Pur containers that fit in the fridge, removes lead, chlorine, and other impurities. Bottled water fanatics should be aware that many bottled brands actually get their water from the same places our taps do—local municipal supplies. This means investing in a simple filter is the definitely the way to go. Plus, with your handy filter, you can quit that nasty bottled-water habit. Clean and green? Gotta love that.