Credits: Social Media
Kitchen tap water vs bathroom tap water, the debate answered by science
The facedown of kitchen tap water vs bathroom tap water continues to rage throughout conversations, but what does science recommend?
Let’s set the scene& you wake up in the middle of the night, there’s one thing you crave above all else: a sip of water, then it’s back to sleep. Through closed eyes, you clumsily reach out a tired arm over to the bedside table, feeling for anything resembling a drinking glass. You’ve found it, but then, your hopes are dashed. It’s empty. So, what do you do? You’re exhausted, but there’s no going to sleep until you get what you want. Do you head for the bathroom or the kitchen? ‘Whatever’s closest’ may always be your answer, but what option is most advisable?
Kitchen vs tap water debate answered
Drinking water from both the kitchen and bathroom taps is generally safe, although some experts and professionals who work in plumbing and water treatment have addressed there are additional issues posed by drinking bathroom tap water instead of kitchen tap water.
Brian Campbell is the founder of WaterFilterGuru.com and has tested tens of water treatment products. He explained that he “wouldnt recommend regularly drinking from your bathroom sink water, because this water is more likely to contain heavy metals and bacteria than your kitchen sink water.”
This is because the pipes that supply the bathroom sink in your home could potentially have a buildup of such contaminants. Ultimately, the bathroom sink isn’t designed to drink from, whereas the kitchen tap is.
- DEBATE SETTLED: Dentist on water temp to brush teeth
Raising another point, Jake Romano is the manager of a local plumbing service called John The Plumber based in Ottawa, and he addressed to Mel Magazine that theres the risk of fumes, contaminants, and splashback particles in a bathroom.
Putting it bluntly, you’re drinking from a sink in the same room as a toilet being used regularly. There may be some possibility of those fumes settling on the aerator of the faucet, he elaborated. If you’re still determined to drink from the bathroom tap, however, Jake recommends running the tap longer than you would in the kitchen before filling your glass to drink.
Additionally, Mike Grijalva, owner of Sacramento Plumbing Solutions, acknowledged to Mel that old bathroom pipes carry contamination risks. “Another concern with old pipes,” he explained, “is the tendency for bacteria and mold to collect and grow over time. This often happens in bathrooms, which tend to be very humid and present ideal conditions for mold growth.
Contaminants can be introduced in the pipes and fixtures, and there’s arguably more risk in a bathroom setting as they’re often humid spaces.
Generally, there’s perhaps just a little more red tape with drinking from the bathroom tap than the kitchen, so even though it’s generally safe to do both, adding a few more steps to your trip to the kitchen and drinking from that tap couldn’t hurt.
Is bottled water safer than tap water?
Where tap water is regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), bottled water is alternatively considered a food product, so it’s instead regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration.
Although a great deal of bottled water sources are more filtered than the tap water you’ll find in your home, that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily safer to drink than standard kitchen tap water.
Bottled water can still contain contaminant traces just like kitchen tap water, it’s just that manufacturers of bottled water aren’t catering to a greater demand as a huge public water supplier. There’s less financial constraint.
Both are safe to drink and no one is necessarily safer than the other.
