[Spooky]

I'm wondering if water can be drunk straight from the tap. Or will it need to be boiled or filtered? (We'll be in the North Island, in an urban area).

[StevieD]

No probs at all Spooky :)

[willsken]

I drink it all the time and I haven't had any bad effects. :)

[Lara Croft]

Hi. On the Kapiti Coast, water supplies must have been running low earlier this year, becuase there was a notice in the paper about it changing to Bore Water (from what I don't know!). Now while Bore Water is supposed to be safe to drink, it furred up our kettle instantly, and we all started getting stomach upsets and feeling generally unwell. As a precaution, we now routinely buy bottled water for drinking.

J

[Gar1]

OH works in the labs testing drinking water quality. She drinks the water straight from the tap so cannot be that bad. There can be problems with the water from pivate supplies though, and some areas can have a high nitrogen level but not harmful levels.

[Spooky]

That's great news. Saves $$ on gas (no need to boil drinking water) and water filters! Yay!

[buzztalks]

I'm wondering if water can be drunk straight from the tap. Or will it need to be boiled or filtered? (We'll be in the North Island, in an urban area).


IMHO the water from the tap in Wellington tastes awful.....
safe to drink ,however it really is down to personal taste.

[M-Squared]

We're in a Porirua suburb and drink the tap water. No problems here. :nice1

[Moorf]

Our tap water here is beautiful... however, just down the road in another township their water supply is chlorinated, you can smell it when they give you free water at the cafes. :uhoh

The water in our area is UV'd, whatever that means!

[Sam B]

Lovely water in Cambridge.

[dilanium]

I like the water here in Palmy much better than the municipal water supply in Cleveland, OH where I was previously!

[PeteS]

And if you live in Seddon, where the local councillors voted NOT to install a proper water scheme, there is a permanent boil notice issued by Marlborough District Council. It's nothing major, e coli and cryptosporidium.... The supply comes direct off the hillside into a small dam and is pumped direct to the town. When we lived there we had our own filters and UV unit permanently fitted so we could do things like brush our teeth. The day we moved out I took the filters apart. Yuk. The filters came with us when we moved, and they are going into our new house which is supplied from our own bore. The water from the bore is sweet and clear anyway and is probably better than Blenheim water. They had contamination issues last summer in Blenheim. One of the boreholes got contaminated by e coli. They couldn't find out how, which is a bit of a worry....... a broken drain, or pasture run off perhaps.....

[benandclare]

Tap water here in Christchurch is some of the best we've ever tasted :cheers

[Joolzr]

UV is used to sterilize things. Actually it mutates DNA so bugs can't replicate.

JoolzR

[Moorf]

UV is used to sterilize things. Actually it mutates DNA so bugs can't replicate.

JoolzR

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the words "DNA" and "mutate" being in the same sentence as "my drinking water" :exit

[granger]

Tap water here in Christchurch is some of the best we've ever tasted :cheers

Yes, completely untreated, no chlorine, no added chemicals at all and beautiful to drink. :nice1

[kanatakiwi]

I had my drinking water in Auckland tested and came back the chlorine was too high and the flouride was off the charts, well over the limit. Turns out the chemicals are added by a private company who got it wrong that particular time. Later tests showed the levels had dropped down again, but I decided not to leave it up to the guys with the chemicals and bought a water filter that attaches to my tap. I originally got it tested because it smells so strongly of chloride at times, and it makes my eyes burn when I shower.

[dilanium]

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the words "DNA" and "mutate" being in the same sentence as "my drinking water" :exit

LOL. :laugh It binds up their DNA so that it cannot be copied. meaning you cannot get an infection (because one bug does not an infection make) :nice1. I'd actually trust that more than boiling personally. :)

[PeKaJoSa]

My mother's family is from rural Ireland, and they have a UV steriliser system for the water taken from a local spring on a nearby hillside. Apparently it's very effective - and given the number of sheep covering that hill, I know that I'd want the water sterilised before I'd drink any of it..!!

:laugh

[Moorf]

LOL. :laugh It binds up their DNA so that it cannot be copied. meaning you cannot get an infection (because one bug does not an infection make) :nice1. I'd actually trust that more than boiling personally. :)

:nice1

[Familyofmonkeys]

Water here in North Shore is horrible.......has a chlorine after taste and smell fairly often :(

[canajanz]

UV'd means it is treated with UV rays to kill some of the nasties ... some places use ozone treatment

near us .. Woodbourne .. they chlorinate the water ..
We think they do it once a week as on friday it gets very strong and tapers off till next thursday <LOL>

It has occurred to me that the OP may have been asking about tap water from a different perspective.
When I first went to UK I was warned off drinking from the tap .. and it turned out that was because the house ran off a header tank in the loft !! The average tank had no lid and so was likely to be contaminated with all sorts after years in a loft.

Most places here have mains water all through the house... very few tanks

[Flutterby]

my partners family out there have water filters, personally i'm not keen on the filters.
I would just try it and see how you get on.

[IanW99]

...
When I first went to UK I was warned off drinking from the tap .. and it turned out that was because the house ran off a header tank in the loft !! The average tank had no lid and so was likely to be contaminated with all sorts after years in a loft.
...

Were you drinking from the hot water tap?

You will find that the header tank in the loft is to increase the pressure for the hot water system and has nothing to do with the cold water supply that you can safetly drink from (or at least this is how it should be?).

Ian

[BkyMonster]

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the words "DNA" and "mutate" being in the same sentence as "my drinking water" :exit
what it actually does is damage their DNA so they can't reproduce. So, kills them is another way to say it. If bacteria can't reproduce they might as well not be there. UV is a good way to treat water.

Edit: And I agree, Christchurch water is lovely.

[richard]

Were you drinking from the hot water tap?

You will find that the header tank in the loft is to increase the pressure for the hot water system and has nothing to do with the cold water supply that you can safetly drink from (or at least this is how it should be?).

Ian

When I was a child I was told to only drink the cold water from the tap in the kitchen as the other cold water taps in our house were fed from a tank in the loft.

[canajanz]

Were you drinking from the hot water tap?

You will find that the header tank in the loft is to increase the pressure for the hot water system and has nothing to do with the cold water supply that you can safetly drink from (or at least this is how it should be?).

Ian

I thought it was rather odd myself but it seems the water came in from the mains, and to the kitchen tap.
After that the line went straight to the loft and header tank. Ok it was for pressure ... but nevertheless the water all wentr through the tank.

I never understoof why the tank was needed as the pressure at the kitchen sink was as good as that anywhere else so why not just take the water to the other taps like we had everywhere else.

[richard]

I thought it was rather odd myself but it seems the water came in from the mains, and to the kitchen tap.
After that the line went straight to the loft and header tank. Ok it was for pressure ... but nevertheless the water all wentr through the tank.

I never understoof why the tank was needed as the pressure at the kitchen sink was as good as that anywhere else so why not just take the water to the other taps like we had everywhere else.

It may be done to get a more balanced flow to the shower and to stop the sudden changes in temperature when things like washing machines take on water.

Come to think about it, when I installed a power shower in our bathroom in the UK it said to not fit it to mains pressure water. I ignore that and when I turned the water back on there were ominous cracking noises from the pump! I therefore redirected the cold water to a tank in the loft and back down again.