Worst Drinking Water in the Nation
Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia have the worst drinking water in the nation, according to Newsweek, while Hawaii, Delaware, and Kentucky have the cleanest.

Newsweek analyzed data from the Environmental Protection Agency on health-based violations, including failures to remove harmful chemicals, monitoring and reporting issues, and not notifying the public about water quality problems.

Hawaii, the state with the fewest violations, had only two, followed by Delaware with 117 and Kentucky with 139. Pennsylvania had the most violations, with 24,525, followed by Texas with 15,340 and West Virginia with 7,473.

Newsweek also reported that bottled water is regulated by the FDA, which has less rigorous oversight compared to the EPA's regulation of tap water. Additionally, some bottled water is simply filtered tap water. See where your state ranks here- https://www.newsweek.com/worst...p-usa-states-2013078

I'm glad we have our own deep well and fantastic water.

The long term government/industry goal is to eliminate completely or heavily regulate private wells. They will use climate change BS and the EPA to do it. Some places are now requiring meters be placed on private wells. It will be a slow process that will take many years but will eventually happen to everyone with a private well. In my state, Federal and State incentives have been put in place to expand water associations into rural areas of the state. Given enough time, most people will be forced into these water associations, along with all the issues and costs that come with them.

Numbers numbers numbers.

Not every municipality performs the same amount of tests.

So only % of failed tests truly shows quality of water. This comes up every couple of years.

I'm glad I have an RO filter.

Fortunately my well water is very good.

Much of neighboring Monongalia County is serviced by MUB (Morgantown Utility Board) and their water always rates very good, as it should because they invest heavily in it and rates reflect this.

But there are many poorer communities in WV with literally crumbling water treatment facilities that struggle to provide good water.

https://www.policyinnovation.o...2C%20from%20drinking

Some of the municipal water in Gwinnett County, Georgia is so pure they have to add minerals to the water or else it would leach them out of those who drink it.

FAIL!

There are only five locations in the US that have to do such a thing.

No mention of Flint, MI?

quote:

Worst Drinking Water in the Nation
Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia have the worst drinking water in the nation, according to Newsweek, while Hawaii, Delaware, and Kentucky have the cleanest.

I don't find this article to be very useful.
We don't have statewide water systems... so water can vary quite a bit within a state. You would have to look at testing where YOUR water is sourced.

As far as honestly dealing with numbers, Newsweek did the same bullshit that the news did during COVID in that they reported raw numbers without accounting for population. Drinking water violations with population considerations is much more meaningful indicator of water quality. For hypothetical examples:

really high level - If one state has 4x more people, but only 2x more total number of drinking water violations then the big state is likely doing a better job on water quality.

more granular - how many people were affected by the actual water quality issue? If one municipal water district has one upset that affects 400,000 people that is more significant that another municipal water district has four upsets that affect 400 people.

The actual water quality upset also matters. The following hypothetical examples both count as 1 violation, but in real life the impacts are not the same:

A municipal water district that serves 100,000 people had a violation where they had 4.02 ppm of flouride and the EPA maximum contaminant level is 4.00 ppm.

A municipal water district that serves 100,000 people had a violation where they failed to properly treat the water for Legionella bacteria, there was an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, 12 people were killed, and 87 were hospitalized.

Just because I live in Texas, I'm not concerned that some place 1100 miles away also in Texas had a water quality issue, but instead I'm concerned if my water supply has a water quality issue or a place I'm looking to move has a water quality issue. For me, it took 30 seconds to find the annual water quality report for the municipal utility district where I reside that serves 6,621 (not sure if people or households). Just like all 8 years I've lived here, zero violations of EPA standards, and they report unregulated constituents and those are within industry limits as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Jupiter:
I'm glad we have our own deep well and fantastic water.

The long term government/industry goal is to eliminate completely or heavily regulate private wells. They will use climate change BS and the EPA to do it. Some places are now requiring meters be placed on private wells. It will be a slow process that will take many years but will eventually happen to everyone with a private well. In my state, Federal and State incentives have been put in place to expand water associations into rural areas of the state. Given enough time, most people will be forced into these water associations, along with all the issues and costs that come with them.

I bought rural land in an extremely rich ground water area. Some of the best water in the nation. Wells don’t even require a permit. So the county will never know. I have city water at the curb and I’m going to have that plumbing installed and run to my garage. Once installed, building built, etc, all I can say is I’m going to have my well drilled after the fact. If the county finds out I also have a well they will cap the city water meter. I spent a lot of time on this knowing water could be an issue down the road. I probably spent an extra year or two when I was looking for the right place to buy land based around this issue. I’ll never get bothered with the Feds, state, or county because they’ll never know I even have it

I decided to go this route talking to many people in the area. The ground water, once filtered is excellent. The rental house I use when I’m there, the water tastes better than bottled water at the store. So soft, after being fed through the filtration system. I’ve been advised over and over again that same water will turn whites, slightly brown in the clothes washer so my solution is both. If I have a pump fail I will be able to run the entire property on city water and vice versa as once in a while the county will state not to use the city water for drinking.

Kentucky is likely high on the list for quality because we have so much limestone here.
Supposed to be really good for water.

Supposedly that’s why the Bourbon made here is so much better than elsewhere.

I was born in Minnesota and moved at a young age to St. Louis. I’ve heard stories that Anhueser Busch put pressure on the city to have excellent water. I have no idea if that’s true but the St. Louis area does have excellent water.

Everytime I go back to Minnesota to visit it’s shocking how bad the water tastes.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1s1k,

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:

Everytime I go back to Minnesota to visit it’s shocking how bad the water tastes.

I feel that way every time I drink water provided by any public water utility.

Big Picture; I travel a little, annoys me when I have to dump my bottle of water outside the TSA checkpoint, then buy a $5 bottle of water on the inside... I have tried to bring and refill my own bottle with mixed success.

Stand out: Regan (DCA) water fountain is straight up Potomac River, chemical spill swill. F -that, at DCA I buy the $5 bottle of whatever

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
I was born in Minnesota and moved at a young age to St. Louis. I’ve heard stories that Anhueser Busch put pressure on the city to have excellent water. I have no idea if that’s true but the St. Louis are does have excellent water.

Everytime I go back to Minnesota to visit it’s shocking how bad the water tastes.

I was born and raised in St. Louis in the fifties and sixties and was always told we had very good water. My first test of that was a family vacation in Florida in 1962. The water, in Destin, was terrible. I have had good, bad, and indifferent in various parts of the country, but have always thought St. Louis ranked high. I have no idea how it's treated or what chemicals might be there, but it tastes fine.

It’s claimed that NYC bagels are the best, and an essential part of the reason is NYC water.

Ideally boiled, rather than steamed.

Eugene Oregon water is very good.

Two college friends of my kid came up from San Jose and could not believe I drank straight tap water.

I am sure specific areas of a state might contribute to it having the worst water. I know for sure as a kid growing up in Texas, every kid I knew from the Midland area had very yellow stained teeth from the water.

The areas I lived in here in Texas have signs saying the city has a superior water source, but who the heck knows. I have ALWAYS had a reverse osmosis system for my water and my mom uses a Berkey.

Here in our little town in NorCal, our tap water is pretty good. Some places here in the Bay Area, the water tastes terrible, but hands down, the WORST water I’ve ever tasted is in Southern California. It seems like every area down there has awful water.

quote:

Originally posted by Twist18:
....but hands down, the WORST water I’ve ever tasted is in Southern California. It seems like every area down there has awful water.

Affirmative.
Every single community in SoCal and bordering NV & AZ, the tap water not only taste like ass but, smells coming out of the tap. Flip-side, one the few redeeming qualities of San Francisco is its tap water, hands down best tasting. Straight out of Yosemite's Hatch Hechy.