The tap water appreciation topic

fresco · July 22, 2003

New Yorkers are justly proud of their drinking water. The stuff that comes out of our taps in Toronto is generally not wonderful, and in unseasonably hot summers has an unpleasant vegetal taste. What's the best and worst that you have tried?

tommy · July 22, 2003

best: NYC, and where i live now.

worst: philly. sorry guys.

i should note that i always thought hoboken water was great, and i drank it for about 15 years. but after i started drinking bottled water i realized that it had a bit more flavor than i thought. still good when filtered though.

Edited July 22, 2003 by tommy (log)

NeroW · July 22, 2003

It's OK here in Chicago. At least where I live, in Logan Square.

But at my friends' house in Lakeview--man! That shit is nasty!

zilla369 · July 22, 2003

Big ups to the Midwest....at least in Louisville. No problem drinking it..

tommy · July 22, 2003

i'd like to remind everyone to preface their notes with "TWTN:" in order to conform with egullet standards.

regards,

tommy

slkinsey · July 22, 2003

Best: NYC water, hands down... especially once I've passed it through my fancy water filter. But it's damn good right out of the tap. Boston is a close second.

Worst: West Texas. Nothing else I've had comes even close. Lots of gypsum and sulphur! Mmmmmmm!

mcdowell · July 22, 2003

Worst: West Texas. Nothing else I've had comes even close. Lots of gypsum and sulphur! Mmmmmmm!

Nothing worse than Texas well water, and no amount of filtering can fix it. Hot water stinks, cold water tastes terrible, and shower heads have to be replaced every 18 months from the gunk. Great memories.

Live in Cupertino CA (South of San Francisco) right now and the water smells funny, but not Texas funny. I cook with it, but use bottled for coffee. Some things you just don't risk.

Jason Perlow · July 22, 2003

Wost has to be south florida cause it tastes nasty, and on long island. Long Island simply because it WILL kill you.

fifi · July 23, 2003

Houston/League City/Clear Lake aren't too bad. Except that every now and then in the summer they whack it with the chlorine and you have to "let it breathe". It is certainly good enough that I don't buy bottled water. And I drink a LOT of water... It is a promise I made my kidney stones.

The worst in the world has to be West Texas. Thankfully, I only had to visit.

Then there is New Orleans... You get whatever gets dumped in the river. It was nasty for days after a creosote spill. It tasted like someone had dumped lysol in it. Then, if they test the fire hydrants in your neighborhood, you get mud for a few days from the bumps to the system.

The best of where I have lived has to be Hammond, Louisiana. It is artesian from several hundred feet down, very soft, and delicious. The well I had on my property there (not that deep nor artesian) was from a white sand strata and was so good, family and friends from New Orleans always came with dozens of gallon jugs to fill.

elyse · July 23, 2003

NYC is deeee-lish. No filter. Oslo is excellent too.

Provincetown has been my worst, I think. In the 70s or 80s, there was a gasoline spill (or something), and it tasted like (in the shower or brushing your teeth as we didn't drink the shit) gasoline, chlorine and sulfer? Maybe throw in some salt there. Burning eyes in the shower. The memories!

tommy · July 23, 2003

Then there is New Orleans...

the water in NOLA feels like oil flowing over you when you're taking a shower. i don't think i bothered to taste it after that!

hjshorter · July 23, 2003

The water here in lovely Rockville MD tastes gross and reeks of chlorine. We filter it and it still isn't great.

And I have to agree with fifi - New orleans water is disgusting. Easily the worst I have ever tasted.

donk79 · July 23, 2003

Economy, In. Yellow outa da spigot, then 5 minutes later, look at the thick layer of sediment on the bottom. Once, during a budget crunch, the small pharmaceuticals company I worked for ran out of distilled water for the cooling system on the packaging machine. The big boss (bright, but not a lot of mechanical sense) comes in and fills up the system with tap water. Ten minutes later, production is halted for the next four hours as a coworker and myself use compressed air to blow all the gunk out of the cooling system. Never even considered drinking that water, though the big boss, who was from Nigeria, claimed it was better than anything they'd had back home. They were still walking to the river with pails.

Katherine · July 23, 2003

We used to have really tasty water, but they changed the process, and now it's a chemical soup. Wouldn't dream of drinking it.

mb7o · July 23, 2003

Seattle: Usually excellent. The entire watershed is off-limit to people (though not logging).

Philadelphia: an acquired taste. Actually, there are three sources, one from the Schuylkill (drinkable), two from the Delaware (nasty).

Third world countries: well, yes almost any american tap water is better than that. At the mouth of the Mekong, they pull the water out of the river into a barrel, then let it sit with some alum for a few days to help the, uh, sediment settle out.

jhlurie · July 23, 2003

best: NYC, and where i live now.
worst: philly. sorry guys.

best: most of NYC

worst: Staten Island. Last time I was there I was in a diner where our water had white swirly stuff in it which took about 5 minutes to spin down and dissolve, and it tasted like raw sewage. When we complained they shrugged and said "well that's what all the water around here is like".

herbacidal · July 23, 2003

best: NYC, and where i live now.
worst: philly. sorry guys.
best: most of NYC
worst: Staten Island. Last time I was there I was in a diner where our water had white swirly stuff in it which took about 5 minutes to spin down and dissolve, and it tasted like raw sewage. When we complained they shrugged and said "well that's what all the water around here is like".

uh, tommy boy,

from what i see about N'awlins, Texas, and Long Island, perhaps Philly ain't quite so bad. maybe only fifth or sixth worst.

:biggrin:

It's not as good as I remember as a kid, that's defintely true.

Pan · July 23, 2003

New York tap water was much better back in the 70s, but the worst water I've had the misfortune to taste is in Santa Barbara. Ugh!!!!!!

Foam Pants · July 23, 2003

I drink carbonated fresh mountain spring water straight from the tap! The water here in Juneau is quite nice but we have very fizzy water these days due to mineral deposits on the city's filter screens. It aerates the water so it comes out like Alka Seltzer.

The worst was at Camp Sackajewea. It was like drinking liquid liver.

ballast_regime · July 23, 2003

Tap water is never something to be proud of, potable or not.

IML

ballast/regime

Fat Guy · July 23, 2003

New York's tap water is good because New York's water supply is so fantastic. The artesian well system up in the Adirondacks produces water that's as good as any fancy bottle water in the world. The water at the source hasn't changed, but what happens to it as it makes its way to my home has. There's noticeably much more stuff in the water now than there used to be, I think mostly chlorine. As a result, a few years ago we started employing a Brita pitcher. My understanding, also, is that the farther uptown you live the more of the stuff is in your water because they have to add enough chemicals to treat the water all the way to the bottom of Manhattan. So those who live down in the Financial District notice the treatment less than I do on the Upper East Side.

KelMH · July 23, 2003

California's central valley has pretty atrocious water all-around.

When I visited midtown Manhattan a few years ago, I was incredibly impressed and never thirsty.

Dana · July 23, 2003

The worst I've had is in the beach communities of the gulf coast.(TX). Not even good enough for cooking.

Fat Guy · July 23, 2003

We used to have a weekend/summer house up in Rhinebeck, NY. This is relatively near where the city gets its water, I think. Now that was amazing water. My friend still has a house right near there, in Red Hook, and he actually brings a few dozen empty bottles up there every weekend, fills them from his well, and uses that as his drinking water the rest of the week. Sometimes I have some and it really is substantially better than what comes out of the tap here. It's also somewhat better than the Brita water, because I think the Brita, in addition to removing the bad taste, removes some of the good.

DVSDave · July 23, 2003

I can't really comment on the tap water on NYC since it has been ages since I've been there. But I hope to sample some Sassy Sliders, with a side of tap when I get there in November.

On a sidenote, one thing that pisses me off are these articles in the trades that highlight the medicinal qualities of certain bottled waters. Ie. Pelligrino says a 1L bottle supplies a daily supply of calcium. Um, that's a lotta water.

Btw, I thought the tap water in NYC was fine. Mucho better than LA. Or Chicago even, gah!

Edited July 23, 2003 by DVSDave (log)