In what city have you tasted the worst tapwater?

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Straight out of the tap?

I remember Denton, Texas being especially acrid.

― andy ---, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:11 (twenty years ago)

Elko, Nevada

― truck-patch pixel farmer (my crop froze in the field) (Rock Hardy), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:12 (twenty years ago)

Can we count wellwater? I mean, it comes out of a tap! And when the well gets low, that can be the nastiest stuff on earth!

― filled the fjords of my brain (kate), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:12 (twenty years ago)

houston, tx. tasted like i was lapping up a puddle at a gas station.

― otto midnight (otto midnight), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:12 (twenty years ago)

Cities, here folks.... not puddles or elko.

― andy ---, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:13 (twenty years ago)

Leningrad, USSR.

― Markelby (Mark C), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:14 (twenty years ago)

The tap water at the beaches in North Carolina can be particularly nasty.

― .|/_, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:15 (twenty years ago)

Phoenix AZ

― Jaq (Jaq), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:16 (twenty years ago)

San Jose, CA (specifically Cupertino)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:19 (twenty years ago)

If san francisco gets it's water from the sierras, why does it taste like ass? Old pipes?

― andy ---, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:20 (twenty years ago)

San Francisco water is pretty good IMO, unless yeah you've got old pipes.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:21 (twenty years ago)

Glasgow, Scotland. (Sorry.)

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:21 (twenty years ago)

ally makes fun of me for not drinking tapwater

― RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:22 (twenty years ago)

I though San Francisco was known throughout the land as having the best tapwater ever.

― D.I.Y. U.N.K.L.E. (dave225.3), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:23 (twenty years ago)

The water all over Belguim tastes horrible.

― svend (svend), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:25 (twenty years ago)

Italy. Specifically, Rome. That was what gave me the Amoeba.

― filled the fjords of my brain (kate), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:26 (twenty years ago)

london has pretty grodey water

― POOP BITCH (Mandee), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:31 (twenty years ago)

SF water is not perrier, but it's usually fairly quaffable.

― andy ---, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:31 (twenty years ago)

Windsor, Ontario.
AKA, THE WORST PLACE IN ALL OF CANADA

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:32 (twenty years ago)

I think Sarnia, Ontario would have something to say about that.

― Rufus 3000 (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:35 (twenty years ago)

Leningrad, USSR.

i'll second this Markelby. it was yellow and stinky. something to do with war graves if i remember correctly. fortunately forewarned, i did not taste.

― mason storm (mason storm), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:36 (twenty years ago)

The water in Helsinki came out of the tap white. At least I hope that was a tap.

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:37 (twenty years ago)

Was it attached to Tuomas?

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:41 (twenty years ago)

War grave ice tea! straight up, tovarich.

― andy ---, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:42 (twenty years ago)

leningrad hasnt changed now its st petersburg. dont drink the tap water essentially. the reason is a plumbing system that requires an estimated $1 billion to bring it up to potable water standards. aside from the metal that falls out of it when having a shower, it has giardia present in it, so you get ill whatever. i used to boil the teapot for 10 mins or so, and it was ok, but metal in tea (from pipework) still aint great.

― ambrose (ambrose), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 17:57 (twenty years ago)

Cleveland

― jocelyn (Jocelyn), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:08 (twenty years ago)

Cambridge's water is awful.

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:11 (twenty years ago)

To date, it's still Los Angeles for me, though I don't doubt there's much worse around.

Wasn't New Orleans once rated best tap water city? (I'm guessing not anymore)

― Dom iNut (donut), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:12 (twenty years ago)

Outside of the Ozarks and bits of Appalachia, Southern water is uniformly awful.

― andy --, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:14 (twenty years ago)

Los Angeles, CA.

― luna (luna.c), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:21 (twenty years ago)

NO tap water was really good. It tastes chemically since the storm, I guess it's got added crap now to counteract whatever awfulness happened to the processing plants during K.

Wash, DC tap water is gross.

― adam (adam), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:47 (twenty years ago)

Outside of the Ozarks and bits of Appalachia, Southern water is uniformly awful.

I think ours is great. I wouldn't have been able to give up soft drinks as easy as I did if I hadn't had palatable tap water.

― truck-patch pixel farmer (my crop froze in the field) (Rock Hardy), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:53 (twenty years ago)

That seems like an odd replacement for pop.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 18:55 (twenty years ago)

I didn't actually mind the tap water in London, England. Personally my vote would be for Montreal. I love the city to bits but its tap water makes me want to hurl. Tastes like dirty dishwasher. Same with my mom's cottage near Magog, which does in fact come from a well, but the Brita helps.

I was all over Europe last summer but I don't remember any of those locales as having bad water but maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention. I have had Montreal water A LOT, hence the reason why I even remember it.

― Sassmaster, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 19:00 (twenty years ago)

It tasted like sand when I was in Dallas one time. Not at all in a good way, either.

― mike h. (mike h.), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 19:14 (twenty years ago)

when i was a kid in the 70s/early 80s, i remember philadelphia's tapwater being pretty nasty.

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 19:18 (twenty years ago)

+1 for London (UK) being the worst I have ever tasted. Best I have ever tasted being Sheffield (UK).

They say everyone likes the water of their home town, and hates water that has opposite mineral content. However, I say everyone likes water that is essentially spring water from the Peak District National Park, and no one likes choleraic slurry.

― Mike W (caek), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 22:53 (twenty years ago)

that's a good point Mike, except isn't most of Sheffield's water rain water that falls on the hills around Ladybower?

ihttp://static.flickr.com/11/14201924_eb09ecd9df.jpg

I do agree with you though (well, almost, Chesterfield's is better ;o)

I can drink London water no problem though, it's fine

― Porkpie (porkpie), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 23:24 (twenty years ago)

Adelaide, South Australia's water looked like they just sucked it right out of the river. Which is probably what they did. It was mostly yellow with hints of brown. Tasted a little gritty as I remember.

― Df'nM (OutDatWay), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 23:34 (twenty years ago)

Sheffield's water is superb, and yes, is mostly rainwater.

― tissp! (the impossible shortest specia), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 23:35 (twenty years ago)

What? The tap water here is clear.

And it is a acquired taste, yes.

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!! (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 23:53 (twenty years ago)

youngstown, ohio. yuck.

chicagos tap is alright though

― phil-two (phil-two), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 23:55 (twenty years ago)

I hate water softeners with a passion. You rinse and rinse and it still feel like there's soap all over your ass.

― andy --, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 23:57 (twenty years ago)

tapwater in cheze, france (the pyrenees)

http://static.flickr.com/42/83982848_bdb509dd5e.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/40/83982849_cb3c48ff93.jpg?v=0

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 19 January 2006 00:11 (twenty years ago)

Porkpie, you're right. I didn't engage brain. Sheffield water (well, the Chesterfield side certainly) is from Ladybower. Pure as the cold driven.

While we're on the subject of Australia, the water in Newtown in Sydney is disgusting, or it was when I lived there. It's much nicer on the North Shores.

xpost: Tracer -- thanks for the water pr0n. I am now going to get a glass.

― Mike W (caek), Thursday, 19 January 2006 00:12 (twenty years ago)

I used to live in Petersham which isn't far from Newtown... I don't remember it being disgusting, but maybe it's different pipes.

― andy ---, Thursday, 19 January 2006 00:15 (twenty years ago)

Yeah Adelaide's known for its rather fruity-bad water, heh. I havent had it myself tho so I cant say.

Canberra's water is kind of gross - tastes of swimming pools, too chemically ick.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 19 January 2006 00:17 (twenty years ago)

DC is really bad, it tastes and smells like something from a swimming pool.

― Rotgutt (Rotgutt), Thursday, 19 January 2006 01:09 (twenty years ago)

I was technically in St Peters, right at the bottom of King St. To me, the water tasted how Trayce describes Canberra's.

― Mike W (caek), Thursday, 19 January 2006 01:11 (twenty years ago)

I would have to say London.

You know, I'm not really used to tapwater that actually tastes something other than nothing.

― Lovelace (Lovelace), Thursday, 19 January 2006 01:18 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, our (London's) tapwater's shit.

― chap who would dare to work for the man (chap), Thursday, 19 January 2006 01:20 (twenty years ago)

It's annoying cause now I have to buy water, which I've always ridiculed people for. I refuse to drink the water in this city.

― Lovelace (Lovelace), Thursday, 19 January 2006 01:22 (twenty years ago)

I still drink it. Even if it does sometimes taste slightly of farts.

― chap who would dare to work for the man (chap), Thursday, 19 January 2006 01:31 (twenty years ago)

That'd mean it has sulphur in it. eww!

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 19 January 2006 01:57 (twenty years ago)

had a glass of tapwater in Los Angeles & spent the rest of the day throwing up. I'd no idea that you could basically bottle NZ tapwater & sell it overseas (nb: Chch, as always, the exception).

― etc, Thursday, 19 January 2006 02:33 (twenty years ago)

btw i want to CLARIFY that the pix of cheze represent the BEST tap water i have ever drank

worst i have no idea, but new york city is notorious for its counterintuitively good tap water; i never understand those people in new york who not only swear by brita but don't change the filter for like four months

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 19 January 2006 03:00 (twenty years ago)

Warrensburg, Missouri has water that tastes like sulphur, and I think taking a shower in it may be worse than drinking it because it all in yo' nose. I thought I was in hell. (Oh, wait...)

― nickn (nickn), Thursday, 19 January 2006 04:36 (twenty years ago)

Osaka, Japan. It's got a pretty bad smell to go along with the rank taste as well.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 19 January 2006 04:39 (twenty years ago)

I realised I had lived in Bristol for long enough when I could drink tap water without thinking about it. Gives London a run for its money, frankly.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 19 January 2006 10:38 (twenty years ago)

The water in my hometown tastes awful.

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Thursday, 19 January 2006 11:03 (twenty years ago)

London

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:24 (twenty years ago)

Italy. Specifically, Rome. That was what gave me the Amoeba.

I thought the romans were proud of their fine tapwater? I liked it when I was there. St Louis has pretty good tapwater, especially when you consider how polluted the mississippi is. I can't remember any vile tapwater I've tasted, except maybe in Terre Haute, IN, but that might have been the stinkiness of the air polluting my palate.

― teeny (teeny), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:53 (twenty years ago)

yeah, I thought roman water was supposed to be good

they have fountains all over the place that people seem to be happy to drink from

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 19 January 2006 12:59 (twenty years ago)

I love London water, it has more taste than any mineral water I know. Oxfords tastes over-chlorinated. Worst tap water I have ever tasted though was in Kyoto.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 19 January 2006 13:09 (twenty years ago)

Seriously guys, Stockholm has the best tap water. It tastes just as fresh anything you can buy.

― Lovelace (Lovelace), Thursday, 19 January 2006 13:46 (twenty years ago)

in my hometown of GREELEY, CO they had the BEST TAP WATER ever - i guess back in YE OLDEN DAYS the first settlers there bought the water rights to all the reservoirs up in the mountains. anyway it was direct from those ICY PEAKS TO MY LIPS, and it was divine.

― POOP BITCH (Mandee), Thursday, 19 January 2006 14:00 (twenty years ago)

I have to second, or third or fourth or whatever we are up to, Leningrad / St. Petersburg. That poison made me puke for a whole day.

― Zora (Zora), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:02 (twenty years ago)

I think by the time I drank the water in Leningrad the vast amounts of Russian "champagne" swilling around in my stomach would have killed the giardia. Side note - have you ever smelled anyone suffering from giardiasis? It is not good.

― Markelby (Mark C), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:04 (twenty years ago)

As mentioned, Glasgow water is surprisingly vile. Much worse than London's. The worst tapwater I have tasted, by far, was one day at Glastonbury last year. They must have mucked up on the chlorination levels. Like drinking swimming pool water.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:20 (twenty years ago)

Chorley, Lancs. Right next to the Rivington reservoirs, but that gets piped to Liverpool and Chorley is left with absolutely disgusting bore water. Much worse than London's, which I drink every day without a second thought to the taste.

― Vicky (Vicky), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:22 (twenty years ago)

I must agree that Sheffield and its surrounding areas have excellent tapwater. Around the S63 area it beats bought mineral water for taste. The rubbish that comes out of my taps in Glasgow is invariably bitter.

― Zoe Espera (Espera), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:46 (twenty years ago)

If only it was bitter.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:49 (twenty years ago)

Oh no, I'm an alcoholic.

Sheffield water is yummy, yes.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 19 January 2006 17:50 (twenty years ago)

best tap water I've had in any U.S. region is in the PacNW.. for obvious reasons. (although it's weird that the same reason also allows us to have electricity.)

Best tap water I've had in the word:
Iceland

although I have to stress COLD tap water. Cold tap water in Iceland is probably the purest you can get in the world. Hence the best home-made tea I've had was in Iceland at the guesthouse I stayed in.

However, the complete opposite is true for hot tap water in Iceland.. It's the worst hot tap water by definition practically... since the water heating mechanisms are all geothermal (as well as just power in general), you get that slightly sulfuric/"eggy" essence. You can also get REALLY sick if you drink hot Icelandic tap water, or use it in tea.. it's fine to shower in, despite that eggy smell if you take more than a quick hot shower. The smell doesn't stay on your skin, despite myth.

― Dom iNut (donut), Thursday, 19 January 2006 18:17 (twenty years ago)

any U.S. region --> any North American region (lower B.C. tap water is really good, too, for same reasons)

in the word --> in the world

(sorry)

― Dom iNut (donut), Thursday, 19 January 2006 18:18 (twenty years ago)

Water in the west side of Toronto comes out of the tap white.

― xavier mcshane (xave), Friday, 20 January 2006 13:51 (twenty years ago)

What is it with Texas?

The first night we stayed in Austin and I thought it might have been a problem with our hotel, because the water was literally undrinkable. A really nasty metallic tang as if there was something wrong with the pipes. Everywhere else, the tap water in Texas either had this awful metallic tinge, or tasted like a swimming pool due to a massive amount of chlorine.

I remember St Louis being nicer when we popped there, though, almost normal.

Trust me, London water is pretty bad by UK standards, but it is several leagues above the water I found in Texas. It made me laugh that Americans always have the cheek to ask "Is the war-der safe to drink here?" in Europe.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Friday, 20 January 2006 14:12 (twenty years ago)

i don't think you're supposed to make tea with the hot tap no matter where you are in the world!

― ken c (ken c), Friday, 20 January 2006 14:16 (twenty years ago)

Actually, that reminds me, when I was in Edinburgh the tea shop I was in boasted that their tap water was the best in the world for making tea. It was vile.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Friday, 20 January 2006 14:49 (twenty years ago)

i don't think you're supposed to make tea with the hot tap no matter where you are in the world!

Yeah, I don't know anyone who uses the hot tap for anything you're going to drink.

I don't know if this is because in Britain we use hot water storage tanks (full of dead mice, obv) more than elsewhere in the world. Modern hot water systems tend to heat the water as you use it, so I guess it's OK to drink maybe, but no one I know does.

― Alba (Alba), Friday, 20 January 2006 14:55 (twenty years ago)

The London water never bothered me all that much.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 20 January 2006 15:25 (twenty years ago)

You're not supposed to use the hot tap for drinking because in the olden days they had to use lead-based solder (or something similar) on hot water pipes because of the heat they had to carry, whereas they could use something less harmful on the cold pipes. These days apparently they don't use lead so it should be fine to drink from the hot tap.

Which reminds me - the smell of hot water is about THE must underrated smell ever. It's great!

― Markelby (Mark C), Friday, 20 January 2006 15:33 (twenty years ago)

You can also get REALLY sick if you drink hot Icelandic tap water, or use it in tea..

Another reason you shouldn't use hot water from a tap to make tea is the water won't be hot enough. It needs to be as close to boiling as it physically possible, otherwise it won't brew properly.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Friday, 20 January 2006 15:43 (twenty years ago)

you haven't been to iceland then

xpost

― ken c (ken c), Friday, 20 January 2006 15:44 (twenty years ago)

oh the freezer gags.

― ken c (ken c), Friday, 20 January 2006 15:44 (twenty years ago)

yeah, was about to say, people are more prone to use hot tap water in Iceland because it's also practically boiling from the tap. (although that's usually used for non-consuming activites.)

― Dom iNut (donut), Friday, 20 January 2006 19:01 (twenty years ago)

(at least non-consuming involving one's esophagus)

― Dom iNut (donut), Friday, 20 January 2006 19:01 (twenty years ago)

Philly

― Maria :D (Maria D.), Friday, 20 January 2006 19:03 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I don't know anyone who uses the hot tap for anything you're going to drink.

Oh I know.. which is why I was puzzled when the keeper of the guesthouse warned me not to do so very firmly.. I told him the above, and he shook his head and said "you won't believe laziness of people in the world.. especially after having to call doctors once a month because of this."

:-O

― Dom iNut (donut), Friday, 20 January 2006 19:05 (twenty years ago)

does brita serve any useful purpose?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 20 January 2006 19:23 (twenty years ago)

It can turn cheap vodka into good vodka, supposedly.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 20 January 2006 19:48 (twenty years ago)

So those areas where the water stains the tub red: is that what water softeners are for? My oakland water doesn't stain anything.

― andy --, Friday, 20 January 2006 19:53 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Okay, I don't really drink bottled water (I drink tea all day, made from the Britta, and beer at night) but here is the dirt on the indulgence of drinking bottled water all the time, you should feel guilty for ecocrimes:

"At as much as $2.50 [U.S.] per liter [$10 U.S. a gallon], bottled water costs more than gasoline," she said.

"Most of this extra cost is driven by transportation and packaging."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0224_060224_bottled_water.html

― andy --, Monday, 27 February 2006 19:14 (twenty years ago)

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