I always drink Brita filtered water from the tap. There is a noticeable tasted when it comes straight from the tap unfiltered.

My shower wall use to have green coloring on the walls after a few showers. Once I put in a $40 showerhead filter, voila! No more green walls. So, I figure over time, our insides have absorbed this green chlorine, how gross.

Frankly, I haven't found any bottled water that I liked. The taste seems off, maybe from the plastic, maybe it's the water source. When I heard that cheap plastic bottles degrades and contaminates the water it holds, that turned me completely off.

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You don't die with dignity, you live with dignity - a TV show

Funny, I always thought the green colour was caused by the oxidation of copper pipes.

Most of the time I attribute the "taste" of some tap water to the chlorination of the water. Don't know about you but when faced with a choice between nasty micro-organisms and a little chlorine taste...I'd guess most people would choose the Chlorine[)] especially when you're responsible for delivering potable water to the masses....

Most people don't get to make the choice. Public Health authorities would rather cause 1 case in 100,000 people of bladder cancer (trihalomethanes form from chlorination of organic compounds in water) to prevent 1,000 cases of severe gastroenteritis or other bacterial water-borne diseases.

The other case is that bacteria come not only from the source but from the transport system. Water is rechlorinated up to three times between the North Shore watersheds and Surrey to deal with bacterial accumulation from the pipes en route. You better hope they never switch Vancouver onto Harrison Lake as a water source.

Dru, are you stating that chlorination is a cause of bladder cancer? which according to you (no sources cited) is found in 1 in 100,000. You infer that it's cancer versus "severe gastroenteritis or other bacterial water-borne diseases"

I know you object to the use of weblinks, copy/paste and other methods of citing references and prefer personal opinion. Unfortunately, I'm not as knowledgeable as you so I looked up references to bladder cancer and came across what I believe to be a reliable source, http://www.urologychannel.com/bladdercancer/index.shtml (but then what do I know):

Incidence and Prevalence
According to the National Cancer Institute, the highest incidence of bladder cancer occurs in industrialized countries such as the United States, Canada, and France. Incidence is lowest in Asia and South America, where it is about 70% lower than in the United States.

Incidence of bladder cancer increases with age. People over the age of 70 develop the disease 2 to 3 times more often than those aged 55–69 and 15 to 20 times more often than those aged 30–54.

Bladder cancer is 2 to 3 times more common in men. In the United States, approximately 38,000 men and 15,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year. Bladder cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in men and the eighth most common type in women. The disease is more prevalent in Caucasians than in African Americans and Hispanics.

Causes and Risk Factors

Cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) in the urine may lead to the development of bladder cancer. Cigarette smoking contributes to more than 50% of cases, and smoking cigars or pipes also increases the risk. Other risk factors include the following:

* Age
* Chronic bladder inflammation (recurrent urinary tract infections, urinary stones)
* Consumption of Aristolochia fangchi (herb used in some weight-loss formulas)
* Diet high in saturated fat
* Exposure to second-hand smoke
* External beam radiation
* Family history of bladder cancer (several genetic risk factors identified)
* Gender (male)
* Infection with Schistosoma haematobium (parasite found in many developing countries)
* Personal history of bladder cancer
* Race (Caucasian)
* Treatment with certain drugs (e.g., cyclophosfamide—used to treat cancer)

Exposure to carcinogens in the workplace also increases the risk for bladder cancer. Medical workers exposed during the preparation, storage, administration, or disposal of antineoplastic drugs (used in chemotherapy) are at increased risk. Occupational risk factors include recurrent and early exposure to hair dye, and exposure to dye containing aniline, a chemical used in medical and industrial dyes. Workers at increased risk include the following:

* Hairdressers
* Machinists
* Printers
* Painters
* Truck drivers
* Workers in rubber, chemical, textile, metal, and leather industries

Guess what, I couldn't find your reference to chlorination. Now that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist but if the incidence of bladder cancer is 1 in 100,000 as you claim and after discounting all the causes listed in this cited article, then your chlorination statement as a cause of bladder cancer, puts it into negligible risk factor and only sows fear and doubt as to the safety of our tap water, and consequently pushes people into purchasing bottled water of even more doubtful quality.

Ok Dru, pour it on....

I agree with Sourdough, keep the tap water in a bottle in the fridge overnight and it tastes fine.

I do remember Vancouver tap water tasting alot better in the early 80's though, seems like when Expo 86 happened they started adding way more chlorine to the water.

Just for you dcongrav

http://www.tbdhu.com/factsheets/THMsFactSheet.htm

[:I] Jeez Shadee....Thanx

I read the report and I'm pasting parts of it here:

Some epidemiological studies have shown an association between long-term exposure to THMs and bladder cancer. Also, some toxicological studies in animals have shown evidence of the carcinogenicity of chloroform, a major THM. It should be noted that the possible increased risk of bladder cancer associated with THMs is relatively small, that exposure time is very long (on the order of 40 years or more), and that accurately assessing a person's exposure to THMs is very difficult. Nevertheless, THMs are considered a possible cancer risk and so, in 1993, the Federal-Provincial Subcommittee on Drinking Water (DWS) established a maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) guideline of 100 parts per billion (ppb) for THMs in drinking water.

also:

Everyone should be concerned about the safety of his or her water supply and municipalities should strive to provide a water supply that meets the provincial standards. There is a possible, relatively small risk associated with long-term exposure to high levels of THMs. According to available statistics, Thunder Bay is not experiencing a higher than average number of bladder cancer cases.

The point in my post is that mentioning bladder cancer together with tap water scares people and pushes them into the arms of the bottled water makers which is not necessarily good. The PROVEN incidence of bladder cancer versus chlorination in acceptable quantities is not there. Whereas the serious implications of moving over to bottled water instead of tap water is very proven.

Thanks Shadee for thinking about me.

Think nothing of it

took me two seconds to type in Dru's fancy word trihalomethanes, and bladder cancer and a wack of info came up in google. Gotta love the internet

dcongrav I think you are, or were, so caught up in the "corporate control of bottled water is bad, therefore tap water is good, therefore people must love tap water" idea you are unwilling to look at new ideas.

i made up the 1 in 100,000 vs. 1000 in 100,000, but the point is the odds of getting a waterborne disease from untreated surface water is orders of magnitude higher than getting bladder cancer from exposure to trihalomethanes.

ozonation plus filtration is another option for water treatment that avoids creating THMs. it is several times more expensive than chlorination, however.

the best option is just to choose your source carefully. here in Chilliwack i am drinking Vedder Aquifer tapwater, which is NOT chlorinated and of world class quality (we're number 5!!). i notice that if I leave a jug of Chilliwack tapwater around for a few weeks, it will grow black mould. never had that problem with west van tapwater coming from Eagle Lake (and chlorinated)

to demonize all bottled water as bad because of the big corporations involved in the market is also foolish. it's impossible to say that bottled water is better or worse in terms of water quality than tapwater without comparing specifics - whose brand of bottled water, from what source, versus which tapwater from what source. just down the road from me in abbotsford-langley region the groundwater is so full of nitrates you could probably cure pork with it. i will not drink abbotsford tap water unless there is a filter like a Brita between me and the tap.

likewise, in LA or Las Vegas I would rather buy and drink bottled water than tapwater. the tapwater there is among the worst in the developed world.

You don't even have to go that far west Dru. Ever tried Greendale tap water? My parents out there got lucky with their well, but most wells out there are fierce full of iron and i'm sure a good chunk of nitrates from all the manure and fertilizer as well...yech!

The miracle of effective marketing. Does anyone else remember seeing a cartoon like this: some long-hair stoners are sitting around in full '60s regalia, smoking something hand-rolled and one of them is drinking some water. He says "Wow man! This water is sooo goood! We should like, bottle it and, like sell it for like a $1 a bottle!" One of his buddies says "Man you are waaasted! Nooo wayyyy!!"

So what I do is take a commercial water bottle with one of those convenient drinking spouts, fill it with tap water and put it in the fridge. I'm cool, hip, trendy, with-it and cheap! Or if I really want to spend $ on water (there are places where the tap water really is nasty), I buy a 2 litre bottle of carbonated water (e.g. Club Soda). The fizz gives it a little something extra that helps justify paying money for it and it's still about 1/2 the price of your average 350ml bottle of trendy water.

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"Aging ... it beats the alternative"

dcongrav
My purifier is a Fantom which is no longer manufactured but I have a few years supply of carbon filters to keep it going.