This is a new feature. Each afternoon we will have a question that we pose the Vanguard community. Sometimes it will be a local issue, sometimes a national issue, and sometimes a deeper and more philosophic question.
Today’s question: Do you drink the water in Davis straight from the tap? If not, how do you get your drinking water?
Have a question you want to ask? Log onto your twitter account and tweet it to us using the hashtag: #DavisVanguard
Follow the Vanguard on Twitter
I drink it from the trap after it’s filtered through a reverse osmosis system. I will do the same if we switch to river water as I think that water will be worse.
Unlike rusty I don’t drink it from the trap.
I do however drink it from the tap unadulterated by any processes or added chemicals. Every now and then I add a bit of white vinegar to my teapot to eat away the rime, but other than that I go commando.
The vast majority of the time, we do not drink the tap water; we instead fill up one- and five-gallon jugs at the various reverse osmosis (??) stations around town (e.g. Safeway and Nugget). This is strictly a taste preference–I’m not particularly worried about the water quality (and I’m admittedly not sure if I should be).
When we’re out of water and I’m feeling lazy, I will suck it up and drink the tap water, but it has a distinctly different taste. If it’s cold or sits around for awhile before I drink it, it’s palatable.
My daughter has no problem with the tap water, and mostly drinks that instead of the RO water we get.
I’m pretty sure most of the restaurants in town serve tap/trap water. I don’t have any ‘rime’ problems.
We use Alhambra. By the way, rusty, reverse-osmosis won’t remove the things you’re worried about. But you have no reason to be worried about them anyway.
Drink it from the tap. It doesn’t bother me at all. When I go to restaurants in Davis, I make sure that the water is free. If they use bottled water and intend to make me pay for it, I ask for free tap water. It tastes like water to me.
We drink the tap water with a Pur Plus filter.
There are a couple of restaurants in town where I find the water to be undrinkable. I assume that those are ones where they don’t filter the water. All I know is that I drink a lot of water at home and it tastes very different from these restaurants (e.g., El Mariachi).
Re: Matt: “..I go commando.”
Yes, that captures my frame of mind pretty well when I drink Davis tap water; which I do sometimes.
I re-fill drinking water bottles at the market; and nearly always this is my drinking water.
I wonder; can highly mineralized water contribute to kidney stones in the long term?
Jim, I’ve had half a dozen serious bouts with kidney stones over the years in Philadelphia, Dallas/Ft. Worth and Nashville, but never in my 14+ years here in Davis.
mat you have been drinking tea from all over the world. Could it be the rime of the ancient mariner?
A fear of kidney stones was emplaced in me upon hearing harrowing tales (long ago) from a couple of friends who have passed (or partially passed) kidney stones; its got me thinking lower mineral intake might help.
I cook with tap water and drink from chilled filtered tap water.
I felt inclined to research the question regarding kidney stones and water mineral content. Mineral content of water is not considered a risk factor for either children or adults. I also drink tap water without any special kind of treatment.
I wallow in the stuff.
I drink tap when mixed with something else, like for tea, lemonade, etc. and RO from the COOP for plain drinking. My favorite is when a bolus of manganese comes out (grayish brown water comes out of the tap) and I call the city and they say it’s nothing to worry about. Right…I know Mn is toxic in those concentrations where you can actually see it. I certainly don’t drink it then.
Medwoman–thanks for the info.
It’s kind of bad news for me; I was hoping there was an easy magic fix for avoiding kidney stones (like drinking low mineral water); likely I won’t want to know the actual risk factors since it might involve a diet change (my guess is certain kinds of lipoproteins may contribute to mineral complexation and stone formation).
On the other hand now I’m less reluctant to drink Davis tap water (like Edgar I use it in cooking).
I happily drink Davis water straight from the tap. It tastes like water from a Sierra stream to me. But then I grew up in Barstow, one well down from Hinkley…..
jimt…I had a kidney stone a few years ago and had bouts of excruciating pain. My daughter’s boyfriend introduced me to a natural product called Stone Breaker made by Herb Pharm. I never thought it would work but I thought what the heck, it’s all natural so what could it hurt. It has to be diluted in water and tastes terrible. I never passed the stone and it disappeared on its own. Was it because of the product? Who knows for sure, but if I ever get another stone I’ll surely use that product again.
Rusty–thanks for the tip; “Stone Breakers” is easy name to remember!