Tap water question?

Question

Is tap water bad for you, can it make you sick?

is filtered water a lot better for you dor does it just tatste better?

also can you drink "too much" water a day?

Answer 1

Tap water has chemicals in it, and these can build up in your system and make you sick. Filtered water doesnt have these chemicals, and it taste a lot better.
Yes, you can drink too much water in a day. It is called water poisining. This has to do with the electrolites and the balance of them in your body. You have to drink a whole lot to get to this point, several gallons, so I wouldnt worry too much about this last one.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

It depends where you live and the quality of the tap water. Many people use filters but they only cut out contaminants not bacteria and germs. Generally in the larger US cities it's okay to drink but more rural areas may not be so safe. Definitely in most third world countries stick to bottled drinking water. I've never gotten sick from drinking the tap water here in Los Angeles or any other cities in the US I've traveled to. When I lived in England I drank mostly tap water and had no problems. If you are concerned then by all means stick to filtered / bottled water. Or if at home you can boil water for drinking purposes.

Answer 3

In the words of the immortal W.C.Fields, "Never drink water: Fish **** in it."
There is such a thing as water intoxication. It normally happens only in crazy people (pathologic water drinkers) but there was a recent case in the news related to a contest.
Memphis,TN has water that's so pure the only reason they don't bottle and sell it is a concern over depleting the water table. Barring bad plumbing, Memphians have great water. Other locales have problems, and the filters may be needed. There's probably a political entity in your area like a "water board" that will surely not have that name long now that there's a new meaning for the phrase, and you could ask locally.

Answer 4

Most tap water in the US is perfectly safe; water companies are required to meet certain standards and to release water test information to consumers. Filtered water removes the chlorinated taste that you can get with most tap water; however, distilled water has almost no flavor and is generally unpleasant to drink because it lacks minerals and nutrients. Many bottled spring waters can contain bacteria that is potentially harmful for those with weakened immune systems like those with immunodeficencies, the elderly and the very young.
As for drinking too much water; yes it can happen, but you would have to be forcing yourself to overdrink to achieve hyperhydration, which causes water intoxication. Water intoxication is a sometimes fatal occurence that happens when a large amount of water is rapidly ingested, flushing essential electrolytes out of the body and causing hyponatremia (when sodium levels in plasma drop below a certain level). You may have seen on the news that a woman in California died on January 12, 2007 after drinking a large amount of water in a radio contest to win a Nintendo Wii.

Answer 5

Water poisoning is a real possibility, so there is such a thing as too much water in a day.
Generally speaking, filtered water is better for you, but it really depends on your local water supply and especially the pipes in your home and local area. Old pipes can lead to over contamination of your water with unwanted mineral content, but most of that can be avoided if you just let your water run for a while before using it. Also, hot water tends to be more rich in contaminents than cold water.

Answer 6

generally more than 2 gallons a day can lead to water poisoning - weird but true. it can actually kill you.

there are recent studies that you could find on the net that indicate that tap water is just as good for you as regular bottled water. because of the processing and plastics involved, bottled water is no more 'pure' than tap. and it's literaly 10,000 times more expensive to produce and a huge strain on the environment! while some specific places have problems with their water source and for that reason do not recommend their tap water for drinking - the vast majority of towns in the US have very easy access to healthy drinking water.

Answer 7

tap water should be fine if it comes from a clean source

filtered water isn't necessarily 'better' for you, and I personally don't think it tastes better, it just tastes like it been boiled to me.

Apparently you can drink too much water:

"The kidneys can only cope with so much water. Theoretically, if you continually drink water so that your kidneys can't deal with the flood, than your various body tissues would be swelled by the overflow. This would include brain tissue. It would be a condition called brain odema. You could eventually die from it if you didn't stop. You would be literally drinking yourself to death."

Answer 8

Depending on where you live, it is very possible to get sick from your tap water. You may want to test your water to see if it is safe. Test kits are not very expensive. Your local water company has probably already done tests. You can request the results from them to see what their findings were.

Answer 9

filtered water is better than tap because most harmful micro-organisms are "filtered" or removed already. (or so the bottle says)

our body regulates our water consumption automatically. you can't drink too much water a day because you'll just piss it out.

Answer 10

no, it can not make you sick, and filtered water just tastes better because your mind tricks you into thinking it tastes better because of the fancy filtering thing, and yes you can drink too much water a day which can lead you into getting sick because it dilutes your body somehow... forgot how.