New York City has, we were raised to believe, the champagne of municipal tap waters. Seriously, compare our water to anyone else's and try and say they've got better (go ahead, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, try). But just because our water is delicious doesn't mean it is pure H2O. Nope, there are lots of other things hidden in your agua as well.
Wired this week spells out some of the other ingredients hidden in there besides Dihydrogen Monoxide. So what're we talking about? Sulfate (yup, the smelly stuff), Radio-Nuclides (a little radiation to keep you on your toes), Trihalomethanes (things like chlorine, good for killing microorganisms), N-Nitrosodimethylamine (a byproduct of water purification with chlorine or chloramine, keep reading), Lead (yup, from the old pipes), Chloramines (a compound that can damage red blood cells in mice and some humans is put in our water to clean it up—but only a tiny bit) and Bromate ("No, it’s not some chill dude that you share your Old Spice with. This potential carcinogen is another water-purification practice gone awry."). Not to mention flouride, which has been put in our water, at about one part per million, for our benefit since 1964 [PDF]. Yum!
One thing in your water that you don't have to worry about though? The stuff that makes your tap water cloudy. According to the DEP "milky water" is the result of when "Air becomes trapped in the water as it makes its long trip from the upstate reservoirs to the city. As a result, bubbles of air can sometimes cause water to appear cloudy or milky. This condition is not a public health concern. The cloudiness is temporary and clears quickly after water is drawn from the tap and the excess air is released."
Before you freak out about all that stuff in your delicious aqua though, take a deep breath. As we said above, we've got the champagne of municipal tap waters here. It really is that good. And just to be sure, the NYC DEP regularly tests our water and puts reports online [PDF] about what they find. Of course things could be very different come hydrofracking (what with the fire and all), but for now keep on drinking the stuff from your tap. Just know that it isn't just water.
And if that doesn't ease your weary head, well, you can always use a water filter. As long as you regularly keep the filter changed, your run-of-the-mill activated carbon filter (think Brita) filter will get rid of or reduce lots of those pesky additions like:
Bad tastes and odors, including chlorine. Standard 53-certified filters also can substantially reduce many hazardous contaminants, including heavy metals such as copper, lead and mercury; disinfection byproducts; parasites such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium ; pesticides; radon; and volatile organic chemicals such as methyl-tert-butyl ether (MTBE), dichlorobenzene and trichloroethylene (TCE)
