moving to Pittsburgh, is tap water drinkable? (Penn: home, disposal)

[Pitt Chick]

Well, yeah... the water is drinkable.

But whether or not YOU personally like the taste can only be determined by YOU!

[apirlrain]

thanks for all the response
i spoke with appliance person today, they suggest to filter the water

[creepsinc]

I'm sure they did. Did they sell you a filter?

[PeterRabbit]

I called Oakmont Water and asked what chemicals were in our water. I was told they don't give out that information. I persisted and was asked why I want to know. I don't remember everything that was in it but arsenic stood out. If you use a decent filter you can notice the difference in taste no matter how good you thought it was.

[Hopes]

The water treatment facilities are required by law to provide that information. Mine sends the data to all residents on a regular basis.

[epitathpunk]

Originally Posted by apirlrain

hi all

we are used to drinking from the tap.

just curious, is pitts tap water drinkable?
gibsonia is where we are looking to live

thanks

All tap water is drinkable, and it's better for you than bottled water. Municipal water must meet strict guidelines with regards to purity and mineral content. Bottled water is usually filtered down, which removes a lot of the mineral content AND the fluoride that's deliberately put into tap water so people's teeth don't rot out.

All of these yuppies who are stupid enough to spend $2.00 a bottle on Figi or Avian water and refuse to drink tap water are gonna get a big surprise when their teeth fall out when they're 40.

[Tirade]

Originally Posted by epitathpunk

All of these yuppies who are stupid enough to spend $2.00 a bottle on Figi or Avian water and refuse to drink tap water are gonna get a big surprise when their teeth fall out when they're 40.

That's just ridiculous. The US is one of the few countries in the First World that adds fluoride to water, yet we haven't heard about any massive epidemics of tooth decay in Europe or Asia. And before anyone cracks a joke about British dental hygiene, they've had fluoridation in the UK since the 1960s and it doesn't seem to have made a difference.

Also, there's a township or two in Allegheny County that don't fluoridate their water (Shaler and Etna, I believe). I don't see many toothless people running around there.

As for the OPs question, unfiltered Pittsburgh tap water tastes fine to me.

[BrianTH]

Water flouridation absolutely works. Before flouride was added to toothpaste it reduced the incidence of tooth decay by something like 50-60%, and now even with flouride in toothpaste and other products (it is sometimes added to salt, milk, and so on), it still reduces tooth decay by something like 20-40%. You can argue it isn't strictly necessary in countries where all kids get regular quality dental care, but it remains the most cost-effective and equitable way of distributing flouride across an entire community.

[creepsinc]

Water fluoridation is a communist government plot to steal our precious bodily fluids. If I disappear now that I've spoken publicly about this, please tell my story.

[ex-burgher]

I've always liked the water in Pittsburgh, but then I grew up there. I think we tend to have a preference for the tap water where we grew up. Of all the places I've lived, the worst water was in Central Illinois (I think prairie farm states are known to have bad water with lots of pesticides), followed by Columbus, Charlotte (too much chlorine), and suburban Dallas. Only Boston and western Mass had good water.

People can access many local water quality reports here:
Environmental Protection Agency - Local Drinking Water Information

Gibsonia (which I believe is under the Richland Township water authority) is not listed though.