I grew up drinking raw water in New York State. It was connected to the tap, so it was available for all cooking and for filling a glass at any moment. We could

I grew up drinking raw water in New York State. It was connected to the tap, so it was available for all cooking and for filling a glass at any moment. We could even bathe in it. Of course, there was a reason: my parents lived beyond the reach of municipal water grids and so had to source their water from a well in the back yard. This is not uncommon outside urban bubbles. These "live water" individuals are morons. It's unbelievable what people will pay for. This is anti-science, and anti-progress. I've been to Sierra Leone, a place where all water is "live" and they have never added flouride or chloramine. Want raw water? Go live there and enjoy the cholera and dysentery. Municipal water grids are a triumph of urban development. Early New York City understood it, they built the first tunnel to import meteoric water in 1917, because people did not want to drink nearby water made filthy by their neighbors and by industrial development. Hell, even the Romans got it: you need a water system for a large population, and it has to be safe water. This is something we have only improved with treatment. Have there been missteps with lead pipes? Sure. But they aren't actually a problem unless the water their carrying has a pH that will solubilize the metal. If you want to drink healthful water: use a multi-stage filter. As an aside, let me tell you: having a well can be terrible. We're talking unbelievable minerality that you either remove via ion exchange with a water softener or that you watch clog your pipes, faucets, and water heater. Haven't experienced soft water? It tastes salty, and it feels like you can never fully wash soap off. When I was young I had to take flouride tablets because, of course, none was added to our water. The dose was a bit higher than in city water. I've never had dental carries, and I have my careful pediatrician to thank. We could afford the tablets, but in a different circumstance we may not have been so fortunate. The poor in cities get flouride for free thanks to municipal flouridation. Of course there is also the risk of the well running dry during droughts, and during blackouts there is no water because well pumps are electric. That means no toilets either. Where there is no city water, there is no city sewer either, so waste ends up in a septic tank that needs to be pumped out every couple years. That of course prohibits having a garbage disposal. It goes on and on. City services are valued for good reasons. The wealthy should be championing them, and fostering their improvement and expansion, not opting-out with bogus "live water" and vague misbeliefs about health.