What's in Tap Water?

Good question. You would think that your tap water supply would mostly contain water i.e. Hydrogen and Oxygen (or H2O) - with a small amount of Chlorine thrown in to kill off any Bacteria or Parasites lurking in the supply pipes. You might also suspect a small amount of Fluoride too if you live in one of the many Fluoridated Tap Water areas across the country. Below we list some of the compounds which can be found in tap water.

Aluminium Sulphate in Tap Water - Aluminium Sulphate can sometimes be found in tap water.

Heavy Metal Deposits in Tap Water - Small levels of metals such as Mercury, Cadmium and in some areas Arsenic & Lead can sometimes be found in tap water. These are leftover contamination from industrial effluent, leakages, spillages and left over from The Industrial Revolution.

Nitrates in Tap Water - especially in agricultural areas, the high levels of chemical fertilisers used on crops can enter local water supplies.

Herbicides & Pesticides in Tap Water - These are freely sprayed on crops and can leach out of soils into underground water sources.

Chlorine Resistant Parasites – Some Cysts including Cryptosporidium & Giardia can be resistant to the low lever of Chlorine in Tap Water. They can cause diarrhoea and vomiting as in the Cryptosporidium Outbreak in Northampton 2008. 

Recycled pharmaceutical drugs - Hundreds of tons of drugs are flushed away every day in our toilets in urine, only to re-emerge in our recycled drinking water system. It is estimated that the average glass of London drinking water has already passed through at least 15 other human bodies! Pharmaceutically manufactured drugs such as Prozac and the contraceptive pill are two of the most common organic compounds found in city tap water.

Chlorine in Tap Water. - Chlorine is found in tap water as a means of water treatment. Chlorine can also react with organic compounds in tap water to produce THMs (trihalomethanes). It can vaporise in hot water to become steam during bathing & showering.

Fluoride. - Sodium Fluoride (Hexafluorosilicic Acid - H2SiF6) is added to tap water in large parts of the UK. 

If you would like to remove any of the above from your tap water we recommend you look at our Reverse Osmosis Water Filters for the very highest level of filtration.