Tap water tastes horrible these days! What the deal?

[devilgrrl]

The Bottled Water thread got me thinking about this. I always thought it was just me but after reading many of the responses of "tap water tastes awful," I guess it wasn't.

What is the deal with tap water these days? Did tap water always taste this awful? Is it a regional thing? Is the water poisoned with... whatever?

You tell me.

[wli]

1. not 100% sure either

I noticed it in the mid-1990's. Probably water treatment regulations getting relaxed.

[MikeH]

2. San Diego Tap Water Has Always Tasted Terrible

I think at least as long as I have been in San Diego (since 1970), the tap water has tasted terrible, especially compared to how it tasted back in the Midwest. I haven't drunk San Diego tap water (if I could avoid it) since I don't remember how long.

On edit: I don't remember San Diego water being harmful; I just remember it didn't taste good.

[nashbridges]

3. Well water in the mid country, lead pipes on the coast

Water sucks on the east coast, period. I grew up in the midwest, and the water almost always came from wells. It had a particular taste, but that taste wasn't chlorine.

East coast - water sucks. Brita was a lifesaver.

[converted_democrat]

14. Welcome to DU!!!!

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Anchorage has the best tap water in the country...

Truly. Our water out of the tap is cold and delicious. I nearly gag when I try to drink tap water Outside (the Lower 48, I mean).

[Journeyman]

5. You're in LA. . . .

Do you know how old the pipes are that bring you your water? How old is your home? Do you have copper pipes, or galvanized pipes? All these factors can dramatically impact the taste of your water, especially the age of the pipes that bring you water. Imagine: The pipes beneath your streets are decades old. No one truly knows what is happening inside those pipes.

Another factor would be whether you receive more surface water or groundwater. Your surface water in LA comes from three main sources: the State Water Project (the San Joaquin Valley), the Los Angeles Aqueduct (the Owens Valley), and the Colorado River. Though your water is blended from all three sources before it's sent to you, each region has its own peculiar qualities and each has a distinctive taste. For example, water from the Colorado River has a high saline content and excessive minerals, so it tastes different from the other sources.

If you are supplied with groundwater, there's a whole different set of factors that influence its taste.

In past years, LA water has been decontaminated with a variety of processes, mainly chlorine. Because of certain negative environmental and health impacts from chlorine, many agencies have switched to chloramines in recent years, which impart a different taste.

Already in production are a variety of alternate methodologies for disinfecting your water, some of which give promise for delivering clean water with less adverse taste. One of the technologies being experimented with in the LA area that has a lot of promise is ultraviolet disinfection.

There are many websites you can visit to learn more about water in your area. Seek well, however, and treat everything with some scepticism, for there are always many powerful interests with designs on South California's water -- they were there before the Bushistas and they'll be there when BushCo is but a dim memory.

[Sgent]

6. Depends a lot on where you live

In New Orleans they get the water from the Mississippi. Since this is the lower end of the MS, they have to use tons of chemicals to make it palatable after its been polluted upstream. The water tastes like crap.

In my hometown, we get the water from a midsize river which is un-navigable, and which its illegal to dump in. The water isn't great but its drinkable (and the ice is ok unlike NOLA). Finally, my town switched over to the river water about 5 years ago. Previously, it was pumped from wells. The Aquafier water was the best, but we were using too much of it and draining the aquafier (hence the reason we switched).

[AnnInLa]

7. Privatizing our municipal water systems

Private companies are now eying our municipal water systems in their latest quest to privatize all utilities, and to privatize everything.

Our municipal water systems have become old, less safe, and less able to supply safe water to ever-increasing populations. Municipalities do not have the money for upgrading and modernization....and the public is not anxious to have their taxes increased to pay for it. So, look for private companies to swoop down and offer to take over from the municipalities our water supply. Then look for our payments for this necessity of life to double, triple...more in line with electricity payments.

Also...."terra" will be used to convince voters/municipalities that private companies can better pay for security of the water systems.

[Pobeka]

8. Ding ding ding. We have a winner!

Water is the ultimate monopoly. The profits to be had from privatizing a water supply to a community are enormous.

I'm so old, I knew people from a generation who understood this basic concept because they were screwed by companies/corporations in the depression.

Oh, but it's not a monopoly your city government will say (wink, wink). There will be oversight by city officials -- who are on the payroll, politically or under the table, from the private water company.

I'm so old, I knew people from a generation who understood power corrupting the government because they were screwed by their own government which supported immoral companies/corporations in the depression.

[AnnInLa]

12. I'm kinda old too, and I'm glad I won't be around to see

what 'Murica looks like in 50 years...one giant corporation, in constant military conflict, worshiping one, narrow-minded "god." I shiver for my granddaughter tho.

[Dawgs]

11. Wrong...

I have been working in the water/wastewater industry for years, and nothing has changed. My company relys on growth/expansion, and we are constantly seeing new plants being built.

I think this is an attempt from some on this board to blame whoever for whatever.

[AnnInLa]

15. Hmmm? Many articles these days beg to differ with you

For a disturbing read, this whole article is worth a read for everyone here:

http://www.corp-research.org/archives/may02.htm


Profits, Profits Everywhere – And Soon Not a Drop to Drink

by Mafruza Khan

In a May 2000 special issue on privatization of water, Fortune magazine dubbed water the “oil of the 21st Century.” The worldwide crisis of freshwater supplies is so great that it is now a commonly held belief that the wars of the 21st Century will be fought over water. Water represents the last of the global commons to come under the control of market forces. Cash strapped governments are increasingly acquiescing to fiscal pressures and lobbying by transnational corporations to privatize water. Despite being a relatively new sector, studies show that water privatization has often led to many unfulfilled promises.

THE STAKES

The global water industry is valued at about $400 billion annually. This includes everything from privately owned and/or operated municipal and regional water systems, bottled water, dams and waterways, water desalination and purification systems to large-scale water exportation via supertankers. The private water sector in the United States generates more than $80 billion a year in revenues. “Water stock fundamentals look good, and over time, the stocks should continue showing gains, ... if not outperforming the market,” says Schwab Capital Markets analyst Debra Coy.

In the United States, local governments have generally assumed responsibility for providing water services. About 80% of municipal and regional water systems in the United States continue to be in the public domain. The remaining are served by corporations. Cities such as Atlanta and Indianapolis have only recently privatized their municipal water systems, while cities such as New Orleans have had privatized water systems since the early Nineties. Europe’s leading water companies see the United States as the last bastion of water services not yet under private control. Still largely unknown to the public, private water companies are quietly pushing the agenda for privatizing municipal water in the United States and in third world countries to gain control of this new market.

The stakes for communities, particularly poor ones, are also very high. In 2000, in Cochabamba, Bolivia, a seventeen-year old student was shot in the face by the Army during protests sparked by an increase in local water rates. The government had declared martial law. The chief demand of the protesters - peasants, ordinary citizens and trade unionists - was the removal of a private foreign-led consortium dominated by United States-based Bechtel Corporation. The company’s executives fled after they were told that the police could no longer guarantee their safety. The Bolivian government revoked the contract with the consortium as it had abandoned its concession. A new national water law was passed, which protected small independent water systems, guaranteed public consultation on rates and gave social needs priority over financial goals. Bechtel is suing the Bolivian government for $40 million at the World Bank’s Center for Settlement of International Disputes.

much more on the impact within the U.S. at the link above

[Dawgs]

16. That article hardly address the points you were making...

Nice try though.

[Swamp Rat]

9. POE

[leesa]

10. Deregulation? I spect they can do whatever they want to the water with

BushCo in charge.

[OrlandoGator]

13. Orlando tap water tastes like bleach.

You simply can't drink it without filtering it first.

[lectrobyte]

17. I think it's more of a marketing thing. In my neighborhood, all on

separate private wells, some folks (myself included) drink tap water, and others are total bottled water users. More a matter of perception and a hint of snobbishness -- the uber-yuppied have one of those water coolers with the huge plastic jugs and a weekly water delivery. Seems ridiculous to me. Now, can you mix me a grain and rain water, and let me explain "purity of essence" to you...

[Squatch]

18. Chlorine.

Whenever I boil water, my kitchen smells like a swimming pool.