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Sure. Safe to drink but most Bay Area water tastes damn awful. I can’t stand drinking tap water in the Bay unless it is ice cold. Some bottled water tastes ba
by bradlys 9y ago
Sure. Safe to drink but most Bay Area water tastes damn awful.
I can’t stand drinking tap water in the Bay unless it is ice cold.
Some bottled water tastes bad too. Getting the stuff that isn’t bottled anywhere near california always seems to taste better.
I use a 6 stage water filtration system and it is a life saver. I didn’t drink water regularly at all in the Bay until I had that. Still don’t drink much water at most restaurants here...
I’m not a defender of bottled water but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that all bottled water is equal to tap water. Especially SF tap water. It definitely isn’t. Some actually tastes decent.
- simcop2387 9y agoWhat filtration system do you use? I've got the same problem in the L.A. area and wouldn't mind checking something out (a simple brita filter doesn't do much for it).
- m_mueller 9y agoWhy don't Japanese style water tap filter systems [1] get popular in the west? These things are incredibly convenient and cheap - your tap water now tastes good, the upfront cost is ~35 USD and the running cost is at most around 3 USD per month. Hell of a lot cheaper and easier than buying water bottles and transporting them around. [1] http://gd.image-gmkt.com/li/089/310/525310089.g_0-w_g.jpg http://gd.image-gmkt.com/li/089/310/525310089.g_0-w_g.jpg
- Symbiote 9y agoI've seen these around Europe. Also, a larger version where the filter is under the counter. America != The west.
- m_mueller 9y agoWell I'm from Europe and I haven't. Where have you seen them more specifically? In Switzerland they don't make a lot of sense (good tasting water, but very calcium-heavy which these AFAIK don't help against). But e.g. in France and Italy I think it would make a lot of sense, the water there is AFAIK safe but tastes awful to me.
- richardknop 9y agoI have seen these things occasionally in Europe. It's not a strictly Japanese thing.
- Symbiote 9y agoScandinavia and Britain. It's not something I'd buy -- the water here has an extremely high mineral content, but isn't that what people pay extra for when it's put in a glass bottle? -- but there are some available on Amazon.co.uk if you search "filter tap".
- bradlys 9y agoI got this on sale for about $160. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LJ8EXU/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LJ8EXU/ref=oh_aui_sear...
- baddox 9y agoI drink several cups of water per day straight out of the tap in San Francisco, and have done so for about 6 years. It tastes fine to me, which is to say it doesn’t taste like anything. I also have a water filter and pitcher that I keep in my fridge, and while ice cold water is certainly nicer, it’s rarely worth the trouble for me to refill it. I’m curious why you think the water tastes bad straight from the tap, and even more curious if you would be able the distinguish it from your preferred water source in a blind taste test.
- hueving 9y agoHave you ever had water from anywhere else? The minerals in the bay area water or whatever the chemical difference is makes it awful compared to tap water elsewhere. >even more curious if you would be able the distinguish it from your preferred water source in a blind taste test. Of course you would. Tap water isn't purified in any regard to only contain hydrogen and oxygen. It's filled with all kinds of other crap with just certain crap removed.
- louhike 9y agoIt doesn't seem completly rational to say "all kinds of other crap", but maybe I'm wrong and you have examples of which kind of craps. Tap water is usually enough regulated for it to be safe to drink.
- hueving 9y agoThere is a huge variety of minerals that are perfectly fine to leave in drinking water. You're right that it's regulated to be safe to drink, but safety has nothing to do with taste.
- baddox 9y agoI grew up with well water from the Midwest, which oddly enough is claimed by many to be very tasty because of its mineral content (but bad for pipes and appliances). I’ve also heard people say that distilled water actually tastes bad or uncomfortable precisely because it is very nearly just hydrogen and oxygen. I’m still skeptical that there’s any difference that could be discerned in a blind test.
- jandrewrogers 9y agoThis. I lived around Bay Area a long time and I couldn't drink the water without running it through a filtration system first. It doesn't have the worst tasting water of the many places I've lived (parts of southern California win that award) but it is objectively pretty poor which is why so many people there drink filtered/bottled water. Parts of California have real problems with minerality that adversely affect flavor even in the bottled versions. By contrast, the tap water in Seattle and many parts of the Pacific Northwest tastes excellent, about the same as drinking it directly from the springs up in the mountains whence it came. Consequently, people rarely drink bottled water in that region; you can't materially improve the flavor of what comes out of the tap. While some of the difference is in the local mineral balance, which can be quite unpleasant in some locales (e.g. in close proximity to active volcanic areas in the mountain West), in most regions the unpleasantness comes down to the chemical treatment required to make the water safe based on the default quality of the watershed.
- nfriedly 9y agoIt's been a few years since I lived there, but San Mateo had pretty tasty water.
- njarboe 9y agoWater at my current home in Oakland has excellent tap water. I think the difference is that some water in the Bay Area comes from close to pristine surface sources, and is very good, while others come from ground water. The quality of groundwater will vary a lot; from great to very bad (or event toxic if you have your own well and an underground plume of waste dumped by an old chip factory comes your way).
- toephu2 9y agoI think Bay Area's tap water tastes fine. To each his own.