Basically all rivers and lakes in Boston area are polluted with mercury and PCBs (Cambridge: camp, live)

[brk330]

tap water through a Brita (which does not get PFAS) for me

I'm surprised the Nashua River is not on the list. Thank you Marion Stoddart!

[missionhill]

Tapwater has to meet strict federal water quality standards for potable water. Water utilities test and monitor for compliance. Whereas Desani, Poland Spring, etc. can fill their bottles with whatever under much less oversight than municipal water districts. Not to say springwater isn't what it says it is but I don't know why I'd trust Nestle any more than I'd trust MWRA or other local Mass water utility.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by massnative71

I agree, Boston/MWRA water beats pretty much any bottled water you would buy.

Do you mean taste or safety?


Distilled water has no chemicals at all and is guaranteed to be safer than any tap water. (Contamination from the containers is another thing.)

[brk330]

Originally Posted by missionhill

Tapwater has to meet strict federal water quality standards for potable water. Water utilities test and monitor for compliance. Whereas Desani, Poland Spring, etc. can fill their bottles with whatever under much less oversight than municipal water districts. Not to say springwater isn't what it says it is but I don't know why I'd trust Nestle any more than I'd trust MWRA or other local Mass water utility.

Any Dasani you buy around here is purified Ayer water.
Ayer was over the limit for PFAS from January to March and are in the process of putting in a treatment system at the offending well.
I have to wonder if the bottling plant's purification process eliminates it.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by missionhill

Tapwater has to meet strict federal water quality standards for potable water. Water utilities test and monitor for compliance. Whereas Desani, Poland Spring, etc. can fill their bottles with whatever under much less oversight than municipal water districts. Not to say springwater isn't what it says it is but I don't know why I'd trust Nestle any more than I'd trust MWRA or other local Mass water utility.

And after filling it stays in plastic bottles, sometimes improperly stored, for months.

[mingna]

The most recent (June) MWRA water quality analysis of both organic and inorganic matter in Boston municipal water showed undetectable levels of mercury, along with other potentially harmful substances. (Table on page 9)

Clean bill of health all around. Boston is lucky to have such a good water source in the Quabbin, with its natural and man-made purification systems supplying its consumers with such good quality tap water.

https://www.mwra.com/monthly/wqupdat...021/072021.pdf

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by id77

This question actually scares me. Are there so many out there blowing through cases of Poland Spring or Dasani single-use bottles in Boston?

I know a few of these types (but not in the city itself) and most are on wells. Our friends have a place on Lake Winnie and the well water is absolute garbage. It tastes creamy and a bit silty and even though I'm not picky about tap water, but it's tough to drink - like a mud water shake. Thankfully, the filtered water dispensed from the fridge is fine, but that doesn't stop them from having case upon case of Poland Spring in the fridge.

[mingna]

Originally Posted by Bettafish

Do you mean taste or safety?


Distilled water has no chemicals at all and is guaranteed to be safer than any tap water. (Contamination from the containers is another thing.)

Distilled water is less beneficial than municipal tap water because it removed the “good” soluble minerals like calcium and magnesium when it removed the “bad” ones like lead, arsenic and mercury. It may also not completely remove all chemicals.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by mingna

Distilled water is less beneficial than municipal tap water because it removed the “good” soluble minerals like calcium and magnesium when it removed the “bad” ones like lead, arsenic and mercury. It may also not completely remove all chemicals.

Distilled water is made from condensed vapor, so no there is no chemical. (Of course sometimes the producing process is not perfect.)
The minerals from tap water can be easily compensated from food, since they are in very low volumes from tap water.

[mingna]

In the context of the discussion of store bought distilled water used as drinking water vs. tap, no, distilled water may not be completely chemical free, nor safer, nor more beneficial than tap water.

And the OP was posted in the Boston section, so the tap water relevant here is that produced by MWRA, drawn from the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs.