User:Pokithecat/Tap water

Lead
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Tap water (running water, city water, town water, municipal water, sink water, etc.) is water supplied to a tap (valve). Its uses include drinking, washing, cooking, and the flushing of toilets. Indoor tap water is distributed through "indoor plumbing", which has existed since antiquity but was available to very few people until the second half of the 19th century when it began to spread in popularity in what are now developed countries. Tap water became common in many regions during the 20th century, and is now lacking mainly among people in poverty, especially on Indian Reservations in the US and in developing countries.

Tap water is often culturally assumed to be drinking water, especially in developed countries. Usually it is potable although water quality problems are not rare. Household water purification methods such as water filters, boiling, or distillation can be used when tap water's potability is doubted. The application of technologies (such as water treatment plants) involved in providing clean water to homes, businesses, and public buildings is a major subfield of sanitary engineering. Calling a water supply "tap water" distinguishes it from the other main types of fresh water which may be available; these include water from rainwater-collecting cisterns, water from village pumps or town pumps, water from wells, or water carried from streams, rivers, or lakes (whose potability may vary).

Edited (first half):

Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, cooking, washing, and toilet flushing.

In many countries, tap water is often associated with drinking water. Governmental agencies commonly regulate tap water quality.

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Potable water supply: Water distribution system can provide clean and safe drinking water to consumers' taps. However, the quality gaps of the potable water supply system between the developed and developing countries have been serious issues all over the world.

Background
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Publicly available treated water has historically been associated with major increases in life expectancy and improved public health. Water-borne diseases are vastly reduced by proper sewage and fresh water availability. Providing tap water to large urban or suburban populations requires a complex and carefully designed system of collection, storage, treatment and distribution, and is commonly the responsibility of a government agency, often the same agency responsible for the removal and treatment of clean water.

Specific chemical compounds are often taken out of tap water during the treatment process to adjust the pH or remove contaminants, and chlorine may be added to kill biological toxins. Local geological conditions affecting groundwater are determining factors for the presence of various metal ions, often rendering the water "soft" or "hard".

Tap water remains susceptible to biological or chemical contamination. In the event of contamination deemed dangerous to public health, government officials typically issue an advisory regarding water consumption. In the case of biological contamination, residents are usually advised to boil their water before consumption or to use bottled water as an alternative. In the case of chemical contamination, residents may be advised to refrain from consuming tap water entirely until the matter is resolved.

In many areas a compound of fluoride is added to tap water in an effort to improve dental health among the public. In some communities "fluoridation" remains a controversial issue. (See water fluoridation controversy).

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Contamination
Publicly available treated water has historically been associated with major increases in life expectancy and improved public health. Water disinfection can greatly reduce the risks of waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera. There is a great need around the world to disinfect drinking water. Chlorination is currently the most widely used water disinfection method, although chlorine compounds can react with substances in water and produce disinfection by-products (DBP) that pose problems to human health.

United States

Unsafe level of lead were found in tap water in different cities, such as Sebring, Ohio in August 2015, and Washington, DC, in 2001.

Potable water supply
Potable water is water that is drinkable and does not pose a risk to health. Potable water supply may come from several possible sources.
 * Municipal water supply
 * Water wells
 * Processed water from creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, rainwater, etc.

Domestic water systems have been evolving since people first located their homes near a running water supply, such as a stream or river. The water flow also allowed sending wastewater away from the residences.

Modern plumbing delivers clean, safe, and potable water to each service point in water distribution system, including taps. It is important that the clean water not be contaminated by the wastewater (disposal) side of the process system. Historically, this contamination of drinking water has been one of the largest killers of humans.

Most of the mandates for enforcing drinking water quality standards are not for the distribution system, but for the treatment plant. Even though the water distribution system is supposed to deliver the treated water to the consumers' taps without water quality degradation, complicated physical, chemical, and biological factors within the system can cause contamination of tap water.

There is a huge gap regarding the potable water supply between the developed and developing world. In general, Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, has the poorest water supply system in the world because of the insufficient access to the system and the low quality of the water in the region.

Comparison to bottled water
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In the developed world, levels of contaminants found in tap water vary for every household and plumbing system but tend to be low. Two general conceptions with popular appeal are that tap water is widely contaminated and that bottled water is assuredly pure. Both lack scientific support. In reality, both tap water and bottled water are usually safe, although in both cases exceptions can occur.[citation needed]

Edited:

In the developed world, contaminant levels found in tap water vary between households and plumbing systems. While the majority of US households have access to high-quality tap water, demand for bottled water increases. The possible health risk associated with tap water consumption is one of the main reasons that causes consumers to prefer bottled water over tap water. Alternatively, the factual quality difference between bottled and tap water is debatable worldwide.

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While most US cities have what is considered safe tap water, contaminants ranging from bacteria to heavy metals are present in some tap water, and occasionally serious violations of tap water standards have been well-publicized, such as the severe 1993 Cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which led to several deaths and around 400,000 illnesses (see 1993 Milwaukee Cryptosporidium outbreak). Regarding bottled water quality perceptions and reality, in 1999, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released controversial findings from a 4-year study on bottled water. The results of this study claimed that one-third of the waters tested contained levels of contamination—including synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic—in at least one sample that exceeded allowable limits under either state or bottled water industry standards or guidelines.

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The trust level towards tap water depends on various criteria, including the existing governmental regulations towards the water quality and their appliance. Severe violations of tap water standards influence the decrease of public trust. In 1993, the Cryptosporidium outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, led to a massive hospitalization of more than 400,000 residents (see 1993 Milwaukee Cryptosporidium outbreak). In 2002, the Gallup Public Opinion Poll revealed that Americans prioritize bottled water over tap water health concerns. In 1999, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released controversial findings from a 4-year study on bottled water. The study claimed that one-third of the tested waters were contaminated with synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic and at least one sample exceeded state guidelines for contamination levels in bottled water.

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Using tap water (whether straight from the tap or filtered first) is generally considered to be better for one's environmental impact than habitually drinking bottled water, because the bottling and distribution of bottled water consumes resources and produces emissions (electricity and oil to make the bottles, diesel fuel to truck the filled bottles through the supply chain, truck exhaust, power plant emissions and bottle recycling. In comparison, the water treatment plant activities were going to happen anyway in either case, but the other costs and effects are avoided in the tap water case.[ citation needed]

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Tap water is considered to have a less environmental impact when compared to bottled water.

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Many municipalities in the United States are making an effort to use tap water over bottled water on government properties and events. However, others voted the idea down, including voters in the state of Washington, who repealed a bottled water tax via citizen initiative.

James Workman, author of the book Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the Coming Age of Permanent Drought and co-founder of SmartMarkets says that he doesn't believe that "tap water is bad and bottled water is good". Rather he cites differences in quality regulations and standards. "Bottled water is often tap water put through another filter and not held to the same quality regulations as public utility water is."

Chlorine is a disinfectant which is added to tap water in the United States. Chlorine Interacts with organic material in the raw water to create carcinogenic compounds known as the trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids in the water. You will find these listed in your water quality report. They will be higher in surface waters containing organic material and lower in ground water which is lacking organic material. The level of chlorine found is small, 1L of chlorinated water gives 0.2 mg of chlorine, which has not been found to cause any health problems. USEPA allows up to 4 parts per million of chlorine or chloramine to be added to drinking water.

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