GoKawiilReliable municipal water is a luxury many in the US enjoy, but it's not always guaranteed. Faulty pipes, bacterial contamination and corporate chemical dumping have quietly compromised drinking water across the country for decades. And in older homes, the risk may start at the pipes in your own walls, where lead and asbestos can leach contaminants long before water hits your tap.
Before we dive into common drinking water contaminants and potential problems, let's clarify that this list doesn't necessarily indicate unsafe levels of any given contaminant in your area's drinking water. The easiest way to determine what's in your water is to review your local water utility's annual water quality report. Don't forget to consult the EPA's handy guide to reading them (PDF).
It's critical to review your local water quality report to determine whether you want to take additional filtration steps at home to further enhance your drinking water. EPA
The biggest myth about tap water, according to an expert
Experts I spoke with identified toxins that could be leaching into your tap water. Elena Zaretskaya/Getty Images
According to water scientist Dr. Eric Roy, the biggest misnomer about tap water is that just because it looks, smells and tastes clean, it is clean. Some of the most harmless impurities, namely byproducts of treatment-center disinfectants, are the ones that affect taste and odor the most, while others, including lead, which can greatly affect your health, can't be detected by human senses at all.
The moral of the story? Clean drinking water isn't a given, and relying on your senses and a bit of wishful thinking isn't really a safeguard against potential problems. Learning what's in your water and then treating it appropriately is the most sensible course of action.
Tap Score's lab-testing and evaluation shows you where the issues are in your tap water. Screenshot by CNET
To arm yourself with useful information, you can have your water tested by a reliable independent water lab, such as Tap Score, for about $300 and get a detailed breakdown of what's in your water and how it could affect your health.
Similarly, you can buy home test kits from Safe Home and Easytest for about $30 or less. Both at-home kits test for lead, bacteria, and excess chlorine. (Most people lack the resources for professional water testing services.) If you use well water, it's a good idea to test it at least once a year.
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