Most city water either comes from underground sources, such as aquifers and wells, or from reservoirs. Basically this means the water comes from surface runoff, so the increasing use of fertilizers for farming and residential lawn maintenance leads to a buildup of nitrates, phosphates and other harmful compounds in the soil and in the water. Detergents, insecticides, herbicides and anything else put on the ground will eventually reach the water table, albeit in diluted form. Toxins or poisons dumped on the ground or 'stored' near water runoff also pose problems when these chemicals seep down into the soil and eventually into water reserves. Nitrates in water are especially hazardous, causing blue baby syndrome, and boiling the water doesn't fix the problem, it only increases the concentration as it's a mineral compound and not a living organism that can be killed.
All water comes from two sources ground and surface; be it city, county, bottled, well, or other. The best example of ground water is a well that extends into a water aquifer. Surface water comes from either reservoirs or rivers, here in St. Louis it comes from either the Missouri, Mississippi, or Meramec rivers. Surface water is directly impacted by run-off, and pesticides and herbacides, notably atrazine, have the largest impact. We invest A LOT of money (not to mention time, testing, and expertise) to remove atrazine and other farming agents from drinking water. I can now only speak for water in St. Louis; however, phosphate in drinking water is negligable (<0.1ppm) and most of that is added to help sequester calcium. The rest ends up in the mains as a from of corrosion control. NO2 and NO3 and non-detectable in the water, indicating that they are present in concentrations less than 1 part per trillion. Further, and Nitrates (blue-baby) are issues more commonly associated with waste-water plants; due to the large population of micro-organisms used to break down the waste, and the ability to produce Nitrates and Nitrites. The detergents, as well and other household cleaners (and products and by-products used to make methamphetamine) disrupt the natural cycle of the waste-water plant, and kills the micro-organisms.
The EPA (and MO-DNR) put very tight regulations on surface drinking water, and those regulations are constantly being tightned. The amount of oversight and monitoring of surface water treatment plants (I exclude ground water because many personal wells are not regulated by the home/land owner very well) is incredible, and all of the above mentioned (detergent, herbicide, pesticide, NO2, NO3, pharmaceutacles, etc.), while important to monitor, are (my opinion) completely blown-out of proportion and have a insignificant effect on public health. There are NATURAL agents that are a FAR greater risk to public health than Nitrates. Again, this is not to downplay the significance of monitoring for known toxins (natural and man-mande); however, most are a formality of doing business and not a real cause for concern. A well run
wastewater facility, in conjuction with a well run drinking water plant, will eliminate 99.99% of material from the water. Much of which is shipped off to "bottle water" facilities where they remove 0.001% of the remaining material then sell to you for >$2.00 per 20 oz. bottle (instead of the $0.01 per
gallon that your water treatment plant charges you!).
With all of that said, some facilities produce water that is not aesthetically pleasing; due in part to either source water, but most often times treatment constaints (read: cost$$$). Most often, (especially for small rural plants) it is cheaper to use different treatment methods or chemicals that will produce safe; but usually unpleasant water. There is no doubt you are correct that:
FireNightFly said:
but if you have a ****ty tasting water, then your gonna have a ****ty tasting beer ........... fact!
and there is no arguing with that.