Is El Paso tap water safe to drink?
Ever since we moved to El Paso we noticed that many of our colleagues, friends, and neighbors have in-home water filtration systems with big water dispensers. I was always curious why everyone would have one of these giant systems in their kitchen corner. (Probably because they throw big parties all the times. Or, there could be some other reasons.) For some reason, I haven’t asked anyone why they choose these systems over tap water. So, today I was searching for any data related to El Paso tap water, just to make sure the water we have been drinking for the past couple of years is really safe to drink. Here is the link to EP water data: Updated link for 2017 Data.
The table above is copied from the second page of the original document. It has all the measures of the water quality for the year 2017. The MCLG column is the ideal amount of any mineral or other products in water. I was sad to see that the average Arsenic level is 4.2 where the goal (MCLG) is to have zero Arsenic in water. It was also alarming to see that there are traces of Lead in the drinking water. The table does indicate that 90% of the lead data were at or below the levels shown. A possible reason for lead poisoning could be corrosion of household plumbing systems.
Many of the elements of the table are unknown to me. I will spend some more time on water data to figure out if we need to make the switch from tap water to any kind of sophisticated water filtration system.
Chlorine smell in city water
When we first moved to El Paso, Texas a few years ago, we could smell the strong smell of Chlorine in the tap water. The smell was so strong that we could not directly drink water out of the tap.
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We used a Brita Water Filter to treat the tap water for drinking. It helped a lot with reducing the Chorine smell.
Over the years I (Dear Mom) grew tired of the pitcher. It was bulky. We had to wait for the water to get filtered if we want to pour it safely, otherwise all the water on the top part would spill. Besides, the plastic pitcher didn’t look as good.
So, when the time came that we needed to buy more filters for the Brita pitcher, I started looking for other options. After a lot of searching, I found this interesting water filter. The design is quite unique. It is manufactured by Kor and called Water Fall. Instead of a pitcher, the system uses decanters. The quality of the filtered water is just as good as the water filtered by a Brita. The overall structure can be a bit wobbly though. And the glass decanters are scary to Dear Husband because he thinks someday Dear Son is going to break those decanters and get horrible cuts. Other than that, I really like the look and feel of these decanters.
We also have a water line and a water filter attached to the refrigerator. We can get our drinking water from the refrigerator as well, but we rarely do that. For no particular reason, we mostly use the refrigerator water system for ice-cubes.
We would love to you hear from you regarding your experience of drinking water. Please leave a comment in the Comments section below if you have any feedback.
Note: The article was originally published on Aug 4, 2017. We updated the post on December 4, 2018, with the latest available data. The comments on the post may have old dates.
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There are a TON of health benefits to drinking more water. But Tap word is not safe we need to boil it first.
I’m purposeful about drinking at least 3 liters of water per day. That’s recommended for someone my age, size, and activity level. To make sure I drink enough I use a CamelBak 1 liter bottle that I refill from the Britta throughout the day. Most days I pass the goal. When I don’t, I actually do feel a bit dehydrated. (Tends to make me thirsty at night, which of course then leads to waking up… not ideal :>)
Love this amazing guide of drinking clean water. Thank you for sharing it.
You forgot to mention that tap water runs through domestic pipe lines that carry loads of shit.
Also, tap water usually tastes significantly worse than mineral water. Just pour some tap water on a recipient and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature and do the same with some bottled mineral water; taste both and you will notice a big difference.
Great point!