Water filters necessary?

[popeyespappy]

Just now watched a local news piece that reported the Galveston, TX water supply is contaminated with E. Coli bacteria. They are telling the residents NOT to drink tap water.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

I'll probably stick to the filters because I just found several recent articles that report that my city is one of the worst in the US for water quality.

[Creed of Heresy]

Depends entirely on water quality. Certain cities have good water quality and others just don't even fucking bother drinking their water without a filtration system. The human body, however, is ridiculously durable. All those supposed chemicals you're putting into your body? If your water supply is FDA approved [and it has to be in order for the water to run], then your liver is capable of removing any of the toxins or anything else in it within a few minutes with no side effects at all. Now, in the event of an E. coli outbreak as mentioned before or some other waterborne contaminant? Then boil your water in pots for five minutes. Few waterborne parasites or viruses or bacterial agents survives more than 2 minutes, and after four minutes, none of them survive, period. Then refrigerate to your desired temperature. Buying bottled water is fucking silliness; you're paying $1.29 for a plastic bottle. The water within? All of them are bottled at the source, and the source? Municipal water supplies, baby. All of them. It's a waste of money and if you're an enviro-sensitive type it's a massive drain on the environment for a dozen different reasons.

In other words; no. Water filters are NOT necessary. If you're paranoid, boil your water for a bit and put it in the freezer to chill it. Doing anything more, paying a cent for water from a bottle, and anything else is just silly.

[Ace Otana]

So, do water filters provide any substantial health benefits? Would I be harming myself or putting myself at risk in the long run to drink water straight from the faucet?

Nothing wrong from drinking from the tap (we call them taps not faucets here in Britain).
The tiny amount of chemical in the water system is there to kill off any bacteria. That's all. Does absolutely nothing to your health.

[zebo-the-fat]

Just a thought... leaving the water exposed to the air (to let the chlorine "evaporate") will also allow bacteria, dust, fungal spores etc. to get into the water, I think you may be making more unsafe!

[festive1]

In DC we had a lot of issues with lead in the water. Turns out that the water pipes were made of lead. They've been changing them out bit by bit, I'm not sure if they've finished yet or not. But I've been filtering ever since, even though I don't live in DC anymore. For drinking, I like my Bobble.
http://www.waterbobble.com/ I can fill it from any tap and the water tastes great. Just replace the filter every couple months. We also have a fridge with ice and water in the door, that filters the water as well.