To think you can drink tap water in a 1st world country!

[Drowninginconfusion]

My OH will not drink tap water and it drives me insane. He just drove 20 minutes home at 10pm because he left half a bottle of water on the side at home and no shops are open and in his words ‘I take my water seriously’

I think the reason it drives me insane is because the reason he won’t drink it is because of the hormones etc in it but yet he has spent his whole life being obese. He goes through intense phases of working out and eating really well and loses weight but ultimately he is still obese and thinks that the one time he got to 17st is some sort of achievement that he needs to tell me about allllllll the time. He drives without a seatbelt on, he took pretty hard drugs as a young man and has always drunk alcohol (although he barely does these things now) I think another reason is that he constantly watches strong men / sports personalities talking about their workouts and nutrition and he insists on telling me about things that I have no interest in and have told him as much - after many years of politely saying ‘ooh interesting’ whilst secretly thinking ‘I bet you weren’t thinking about the processed meats giving you cancer when you ate your McDonalds wrap for breakfast 😡’ or ‘I’m 9 years older than you and manage to get more done in any given day than you do despite the fact that I’m not interested in an ice bath’ I know there’s no link to obesity from tap water but Jesus Christ something has to kill you! I doubt it will be the rusty pipes or hormones in the water! He had the audacity to ask me if I felt comfortable eating a sweetie the other day (not fat shaming me, I’m not fat, more that he wanted to make the point that there were no ingredients on the wrapper, pretty sure there were no ingredients on the sweet and sour chicken from the Chinese that he ate last night either 🤪)

I also know lots of you are going to tell me to get a grip and let him live as he pleases but if you had to listen to him go on and on about it whilst he’s sat there sweating and needing 400 bowel movements a day you would find it a hard pill to swallow.

Do you drink tap water? AIBU to think that in an emergency a bit of tap water isn’t going to kill you!

I've always lived in hard water areas and I've always drunk the tap water, unfiltered, without any ill-effects.

If it's a drinking water tap you can drink it, not all taps are potable water, many are off water tanks which you should only drink if boiled or sterilised. Often bottled water is really no more than the equivalent of tap water in a bottle.

read to the end. They had to correct their "facts"

Hang on a minute….!!! You’re not married and the house is in your name…? So there’s no matrimonial property and you can’t get a clean break. Jesus woman what do you mean you can’t get him to leave!?!?! Just put his stuff outside and change the locks when he does his next water run!!!

What on earth makes you say this? Water filters don't filter out minerals; they filter out chemicals like chlorine and other nasties. Water in hard water areas is actually quite beneficial simply because of the minerals which are good for bone density among other things.

I'm concerned about hormones in tap water. Where is it coming from?

But yes, tap water is safe unless your water board tells you it isn't. It is hugely wasteful to drive around for half a bottle of water, and to buy water in plastic bottles. He's been looking at too many stupid tiktoks

Hard water is perfectly drinkable if it is out of a drinking water tap, in the UK at least the main kitchen tap would be drinking water, apart from very rural area not on the mains or if someone has plumbed it incorrectly.

Hard water is completely fine to drink. Some people even consider it healthier.

we've all heard of people getting ill from tap water, and also what happened in flint, michigan

I've never heard of anyone in a developed country getting ill from tap water, and I have no idea what happened in Flint, Michigan! (I don’t mean to sound unwelcoming or jingoistic, but this is a British site with majority British readers and contributors.)

Soft water can have a bit of a taste and isn't good for your teeth! Good for washing and doesn't leave limescale though.

Hormones in tap water:

https://www.dwi.gov.uk/consumers/learn-more-about-your-water/endocrine-disrupters-and-drinking-water/

Finishes with:

”It is correct that EDCs are of concern in the protection of wildlife and the environment in general, however, there is no evidence that EDCs pose a risk to human health through drinking water.”

Last year there were quite a few people hospitalised in the UK with I believe it was cryptospiridian in their tap water... there were quite a few areas that were advised not to drink the tap water whilst they sorted out the issue.

I'm also in the UK, but the issues with water in Flint have been widely publicised.

Ok, but highly unusual isolated incidents with tap water problems aren’t a big enough issue to justify all that plastic. And whether or not you are aware of the Michigan issue does not affect whether I am (and I read a 'broadsheet' newspaper daily).

Plastic bottled water is worse for you due to the microplastics! There was an interesting podcast on BBC sounds about it... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002cdgp

Your DH needs a car that bleeps at you if you don't do the seat belt up. With any luck it would annoy him into doing it.

Absolute nonsense. Of course you can drink tap water in a hard water area. Filter it if you prefer, but don’t pretend it’s for health reasons.

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-you-asked/you-asked-hard-water-dangerous-drink#:~:text=Millions%20of%20people%20rely%20on,for%20those%20consuming%20the%20water.

My ex did this, whilst also drinking several litres of gin a week and eating cuppa soup every day.

Ick.

We have to filter our hard water because otherwise the chlorine makes it undrinkable

I hadn’t….but now I have.

I daren't even tell you how he bypasses that!

You can drink hard water ! Millions of Londoners drink it every day. It’s actually slightly protective against heart disease and good for bone health.

That’s your choice, not a necessity. I bet plenty of people living in the same area do drink the tap water.

I never said anything about health reasons. Should have specified that I meant in my area the tap water is disgusting so can't drink it

There’s chlorine in tap water generally, but levels go up after a burst water main etc. As far as I know the levels aren’t higher in hard water areas.

If you read the article carefully, it's about hormones in river water - not tap water - and hormone damage to fish. The impact on humans has not been demonstrated and seems to be minuscule, if it even exists.