Question:
Has anyone drank tap water while in Southern California ( Palm Springs) and surrounding areas, as well as in Scottsdale and Flagstaff Arizona? I will be there on the 1st of Augt. Or is it better to buy bottled water instead? I am not looking to get sick again like I did in Mexico 2 years ago! Is tap water safe? Please e-mail me. I need the advice and suggestions.

Answer: Sure, perfectly safe. (As long as you trust the local water companies.)Tastes like crap though.

On a side note, it's not the water that gets you sick (usually). It's the bugs inthe water. And when it comes to bugs in the water--it's all what you're used to.Believe it or not, Mexicans travelling in the USA get sick from *our* water. I'veeven heard of Americans getting sick from the water while vacationing in otherparts of our own country. And I imagine some people are more sensitive to it thanothers.

BTW, it's almost impossible to avoid injesting local water anyway. That lettucein your salad was washed with it. It's in the food. And unless you're reallyinto hot drinks, the most common source is ice cubes. Bottled water alone willnot make you safe.

In other words, don't forget the Immodium A-D.

Very good point. Local mineral differences can set off one's gut, aswell as differences in low concentrations of microflora andmicrofauna.

The water in large US cities is generally in very good shape. This isparticularly so since the late 1980's when a major change in the USfed regulatory program for public water suppliers began to kick in.The rate of increase of bucks spent on public water supply testingsince then is amazing.

Why would anyone consider US bottled water to be automatically saferthan public water supply water? The bottler may not have perfectlysanitary conditions or their source may be in worse shape than theones of a public water supply. There are probably fewer regulatorslooking at the bottlers, too.