{"id":2108911,"date":"2025-01-31T14:41:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T20:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=2108911"},"modified":"2025-01-31T14:41:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T20:41:22","slug":"is-tap-water-safe-to-drink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Tap Water Safer to Drink Than Bottled Water?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">Some people prefer to drink bottled water rather than tap water because their tap water isn't \"clean enough.\" That's the main draw of bottled water: It's already filtered and, unlike some tap water, it's crystal clear. There are many types of bottled water to choose from, too. Depending on the manufacturer, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/consumers\/consumer-updates\/bottled-water-everywhere-keeping-it-safe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">label on the bottle<\/a> may say that it contains mineral, spring, electrolyte-infused or even artesian well water.<\/p>\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But is bottled water actually safer than tap water, or is this an illusion created by masterful marketing schemes?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">Is tap water safe to drink?<\/h2>\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\">It depends on where you live, but in most parts of the United States, tap water is very safe to drink. In fact, 90% of people get their water through a public water system regulated by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/dwreginfo\/information-about-public-water-systems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Just because some tap water may not be fully transparent or has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/white-flakes-in-water\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">floating particles<\/a> in it doesn't mean the water is dirty or contaminated. Instead, it's likely an indication that you have hard tap water. Hard water naturally contains dissolved minerals like calcium and magnesium.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">Many homes in the U.S. have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usgs.gov\/special-topics\/water-science-school\/science\/hardness-water\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">naturally hard water<\/a> on tap because of their surrounding environments. For instance, if your drinking water flows over rocks and through pipes before coming out of your tap, it\u00a0<span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">will naturally pick up minerals along the way. (Similarly, if you see a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/black-slime-on-faucet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">black slimy buildup<\/a> around your sink faucet, it's likely the trace mineral manganese<\/span>\u00a0that has oxidized and attracted harmless bacteria.)<\/p>\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\">If you're curious about how safe tap water is in your area, type your zip code into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ewg.org\/tapwater\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Environmental Working Group (EWG) Tap Water Database<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 dir=\"ltr\">Which is better: bottled water or tap water?<\/h2>\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Bottled water may be your best option if your area has historically had unreliable access to clean water. However, if your tap water is generally considered safe, there's no harm in drinking it. Your body may actually benefit from the extra boost of calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals in the water.<\/p>\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Also, bottled water isn't perfect: Additives found in plastics are <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC9885170\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">known endocrine disruptors<\/a> that can interfere with your body's hormones. Recent research from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nih.gov\/news-events\/nih-research-matters\/plastic-particles-bottled-water\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Institutes of Health (NIH)<\/a> revealed that plastic particles from the bottle leach into the water. Researchers found that one liter of bottled water contains, on average, about 240,000 microscopic pieces of plastic\u2014roughly 90% of which are nanoplastics. These are linked to various health issues, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nejm.org\/doi\/full\/10.1056\/NEJMoa2309822\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cardiovascular disease<\/a> and even <a href=\"https:\/\/molecular-cancer.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s12943-025-02230-z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Do your research and choose the option that's best for you. You can always put a filter on your sink faucet. Or, if you really want to be safe, you can install a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/watersense\/point-use-reverse-osmosis-systems\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reverse osmosis system<\/a> in your home, which removes contaminants from your tap water.<\/p>\r\n[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[\/cf]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The short answer? It&#8217;s complicated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7801,"featured_media":2109420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[303797,303719,303745],"categories-v2":[308432,308324,308369],"coauthors":[344286],"acf":{"long_pin_file":false,"ncv_override_generic_settings_option":false,"ncv_autoplay_option":"","ncv_stickyplay_option":"","ncv_ads_option":"","ncv_mute_option":"","ncv_comscore_option":"","ncv_autoplay_mobile_option":"","ncv_viewable_threshold_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_option":"","ncv_autopause_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_mobile_option":"","ncv_autopause_mobile_option":"","ncv_sticky_mobile_option":"","ncv_remove_player_option":false,"ncv_moat_option":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.3 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is Tap Water Safe to Drink? Here&#039;s What to Know<\/title>\n\n\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/\" \/>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Tap Water Safe to Drink? Here's What to Know","description":"If you're one of many people who grew up thinking bottled water was the cleanest option, you may wonder if tap water is safe to drink.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Tap Water Safer to Drink Than Bottled Water?","og_description":"If you're one of many people who grew up thinking bottled water was the cleanest option, you may wonder if tap water is safe to drink.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/","og_site_name":"Taste Recipes","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tasteofhome","article_published_time":"2025-01-31T20:41:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cheyenne Buckingham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg","twitter_creator":"@tasteofhome","twitter_site":"@tasteofhome","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cheyenne Buckingham","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/"},"author":{"name":"skyword system user","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7ccbba5e04c121f1dcff19cbc0692222"},"headline":"Is Tap Water Safer to Drink Than Bottled Water?","datePublished":"2025-01-31T20:41:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-31T20:41:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/"},"wordCount":467,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg","keywords":["Home &amp; Living","News","Trends"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/","name":"Is Tap Water Safe to Drink? Here's What to Know","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg","datePublished":"2025-01-31T20:41:22+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-31T20:41:22+00:00","description":"If you're one of many people who grew up thinking bottled water was the cleanest option, you may wonder if tap water is safe to drink.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg","width":1200,"height":1200,"caption":"Is Tap Water Safer To Drink Than Bottled Water"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trends","item":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/news\/trends\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Is Tap Water Safer to Drink Than Bottled Water?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/","name":"Taste Recipes","description":"Find Recipes, Appetizers, Desserts, Holiday Recipes &amp; Healthy Cooking Tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization","name":"Taste Recipes","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/toh-logo-red.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/toh-logo-red.png","width":166,"height":125,"caption":"Taste Recipes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tasteofhome","https:\/\/x.com\/tasteofhome","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tasteofhome\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/taste_of_home\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/tasteofhome"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7ccbba5e04c121f1dcff19cbc0692222","name":"skyword system user","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/fd0b78c3595fb197a4a5ef147ef361c7","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/skyword-system-user-profile-photo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/skyword-system-user-profile-photo.png","caption":"skyword system user"},"url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/author\/skyword\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2025-05-17 17:19:10","action":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/is-tap-water-safe-to-drink\/","author_details":{"2108909":{"ID":"2108909","display_name":"Cheyenne Buckingham","first_name":"Cheyenne","last_name":"Buckingham","user_login":"cheyenne-buckingham","user_email":"sw-77002@skyword.com","linked_account":"","website":"https:\/\/www.cheyennebuckingham.com\/","description":"<p>Cheyenne Buckingham is a freelance journalist, editor and content strategist. When it comes to food, she specializes in fueling for athletic performance, nutrition for chronic and autoimmune conditions, food policy issues and foodborne illness. Before taking her freelance career full-time, she was a health editor for various health publications and brands, including <i>Eat This, Not That!,<\/i> Nike and <i>The Edge<\/i>.<\/p>\r\n<p>Outside of creating content, Cheyenne runs marathons and regularly\u00a0goes to circuit training classes.\u00a0<\/p>","twitter":"","instagram":"","facebook":"","public_email":"","linkedin":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/cheyenne-buckingham-56351a7b\/","tiktok":"","youtube":"","location":"Brooklyn, NY","school_and_year":"Ohio University","education":"<ul>\r\n<li>E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, B.S. in Journalism: News &amp; Information<\/li>\r\n<li>Specialization in Applied Nutrition Sciences\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<li>Stanford\u00a0Center for Health Education, certificate of exercise physiology\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","highlights":"<ul>\r\n<li>10 years of writing and editing about food and health\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<li>Recently began covering travel and offering content strategist services to clients\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<li>Work can be seen in Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler, Well+Good, Shape.com, Nike, HealthCentral, Simply Recipes, EatingWell, Nike and more<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","expertise":"Health &amp; Wellness; Food Trends","short_bio":"<p>Cheyenne Buckingham is a freelance journalist, editor and content strategist. When it comes to food, she specializes in fueling for athletic performance, nutrition for chronic and autoimmune conditions, food policy issues and foodborne illness.<\/p>","user_nicename":"cheyenne-buckingham","type":"guest-author","nickname":""}},"images":{"2109420":{"image_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg","post_data":{"ID":2109420,"post_author":"7956","post_date":"2025-01-29 08:02:56","post_date_gmt":"2025-01-29 14:02:56","post_content":"","post_title":"Is Tap Water Safer To Drink Than Bottled Water Trend Getty Images 01 Yvedit","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"inherit","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"is-tap-water-safer-to-drink-than-bottled-water_trend_getty-images_01_yvedit","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-01-29 08:09:06","post_modified_gmt":"2025-01-29 14:09:06","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":2108911,"guid":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg","menu_order":0,"post_type":"attachment","post_mime_type":"image\/jpeg","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"post_meta":{"_wp_attached_file":["2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg"],"mdd_hash":["6b54b64fb170423f5e2f8ea3a15fa290"],"mdd_size":["748393"],"_syndication_rights":["1"],"_wp_attachment_image_alt":["Is Tap Water Safer To Drink Than Bottled Water"],"_wp_attachment_metadata":["a:6:{s:5:\"width\";i:1200;s:6:\"height\";i:1200;s:4:\"file\";s:87:\"2025\/01\/Is-Tap-Water-Safer-to-Drink-Than-Bottled-Water_Trend_Getty-Images_01_YVedit.jpg\";s:8:\"filesize\";i:748393;s:5:\"sizes\";a:0:{}s:10:\"image_meta\";a:12:{s:8:\"aperture\";s:1:\"0\";s:6:\"credit\";s:0:\"\";s:6:\"camera\";s:0:\"\";s:7:\"caption\";s:0:\"\";s:17:\"created_timestamp\";s:1:\"0\";s:9:\"copyright\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"focal_length\";s:1:\"0\";s:3:\"iso\";s:1:\"0\";s:13:\"shutter_speed\";s:1:\"0\";s:5:\"title\";s:0:\"\";s:11:\"orientation\";s:1:\"0\";s:8:\"keywords\";a:0:{}}}"],"_one_time_use":["0"],"_image_licensor_id":[""],"_image_licensor_name":[""],"_license_type":[""],"photographer_credit_name":["Getty Images (2)"],"_wp_attachment_source_url":[""],"_wp_attachment_license":[""],"_wp_attachment_license_url":[""]}}},"current_site_slug":"toh-com","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Is Tap Water Safe to Drink? Here's What to Know","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"If you're one of many people who grew up thinking bottled water was the cleanest option, you may wonder if tap water is safe to drink.","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"is tap water safe to drink","dek":["The short answer? It's complicated."],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7801"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2108911"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2109422,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108911\/revisions\/2109422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2109420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2108911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2108911"},{"taxonomy":"categories-v2","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories-v2?post=2108911"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2108911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}