A prize-winning, almost-free drink: L.A. tap water

Another reason to ditch the bottled water habit: L.A. tap water tastes good! In fact it's so yummy it won "best municipal water" at the 18th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting over the weekend.

So seriously -- get rid of those bottles of plastic water in your workplace and at home. You'll drink yummier, safer water -- and save a bunch of money while you're at it. The city of L.A. stopped buying bottled water back in 2005, thanks to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's executive order after the media reported that the city spent nearly $90,000 of good old taxpayer money on the habit. That cash drain alone is a good reason for every workplace to switch to tap water.

Need more de-plasticking motivation? Check out "Take Back the Tap", a campaign by Food and Water Watch encouraging all to love tap water. Why? "Bottled water generally is no cleaner, or safer, or healthier than tap water. In fact, the federal government requires far more rigorous and frequent safety testing and monitoring of municipal drinking water." You can easily check out the safety of L.A.'s tap water on the L.A. Department of Water and Power's website.

Beyond safety and cost, there are the community and human rights issues. If we don't work to support and preserve good, clean running water in our 'hoods, we're contributing to a culture that makes drinking water an expensive commodity instead of a basic human right. We've all heard the news about countries where, due to contamination and pollution, clean water has become scarce, making the only drinkable water the bottled kind that's trucked in. I for one really don't want to move toward that kind of situation.

About those remaining bottles of water you might have in the house right now: Since you have them, use them to contribute to Environmental Working Group's research project. Send in your bottled water labels, and you'll get a little gift.

Plus, students can enter the "I Heart Tap Water" student video contest. Make a 1-to-2-minute video that encourages college students and campuses to kick the bottled water habit and take back the tap. The winner gets $1,500. Deadline: April 14.

Image courtesy of Food and Water Watch

Comments

[Kate]

Not our of the pipes in our building, it doesn't.

[Alex B.]

Another use for the bottled water you have at home: Put it aside for disaster preparedness. It never hurts to be prepared in earthquake country!

[Leah]

I am very interested in going back to tap water from bottled Sparkletts but there are two problems:

1. LA fluoridates its tap water and I'm not completely convinced that that is safe to drink. Filters do not get rid of fluoride.

2. The tap water in our apartment building comes out a dark rusty brown color and you have to run it for a long time for it to come out clear, which as far as I understand it is quite a waste of water.

I'd love to hear from others on these issues and if these considerations keep you from switching. Thanks!

[John St. John-Smythe]

Not a the Oakwood Toluca Hills it doesn't

[swellz]

Agree that LA has awesome tap water and an enviornmentally conscious, fashion friendly demographic. The best way to show your fashion of drink is with a TapSack from a cool company called Swellz. They are a big hit in the Northeast! www.swellz.com

[Anna]

Hmm, I wish that whatever water was used to win that competition can be routed to my apartment... I suspect that it's the pipes in my complex though. The problem with my tap water is that there is a high hardness concentration. I've tested it with a drinking water test kit, and it indicated a 250-425 ppm, when the EPA guidelines are 50ppm or less. The other parameters tested very well otherwise. I still drink brita filtered water, but the metallicy taste really ruins the flavor of soups and teas. It seems there's not much incentive for the management to improve the pipes... right within the intro packet, they have an ad for bottled water delivery service.

[Anna]

Actually, if you're aware of any water softening solution for apartments, that would be great!

[Leslie @ the oko box]

What about all the chemicals in tap water, they use to clean it ? It is known to cause health problems and if you read the fine print in some city water reports they recommend the elderly and chronically ill not drink it. It seems like the only safe way to drink tap would be to totally filter it from the chlorine and other bacteria killing chemicals it's infused with. The reason most bottled water is equally as bad is because they put it through UV filtering, which kills bacteria too but also when the UV created ozone molecules break down they mix with other molecules to create a new chemicals, usually becoming aldahydes. Gross !

[Vectorpedia (Rick)]

Tap water is safe in most of the larger cities of the US.........don't buy bottled water and save money !

Its good to see LA is on the top of the list.

[Frances O'Hara]

Are you guys joking me?
LA water destroys your skin!!!
If anybody out there is suffering from skin rashes/acne since you moved to LA then I can assure you that it is the chemical chloramine (chloramine/ammonia bonded together)
And it is suggested to drink it??
if it ruines the outside god knows what it does to the inside!

[IMHW]

The tap water in LA has been found t o have many cancer causing chemicals as well as Arsenic...