Is tap water safe to drink?
The taste or quality of drinking water can vary from place to place. This is because water comes from different sources and is treated in different ways. Drinking water for people in large cities often comes from lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. In rural areas, people are more likely to drink ground water that was pumped from a well. Most water systems meet EPA standards for tap water. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA sets standards for about 90 pollutants in drinking water. The best way to find out about your drinking water is from your water supplier. Water suppliers that serve the same people year-round send their customers an annual water quality report. Contact your water supplier to get a copy. You can also see if your report is posted on-line at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo.htm). Your local report tells which pollutants are in your drinking water, the source, and the levels at which they were found. If after reading your report you are concerned, you can call a certified lab in your state to test your drinking water. Find contact information at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/privatewells/labs.html. A water test can cost from $15 to hundreds of dollars. If your water isn’t safe to drink, your water supplier must tell you by radio, TV, or another method. The notice will tell you how to make your drinking water safe, such as boiling your water. This kills most disease-causing germs.
But if you have your own well, you have to make sure that your water is safe to drink. You should test your well at least once a year for bacteria. You should also test more often for other pollutants, such as radon and pesticides.