I would probably consider that water bad. Because in the water in Chicago, New York and Washington is Ok. But in Miami it was just wasn't that great anymore. Having chalk in the water is a sure way to run it's taste. Actually I'm quite curious how it's possible that Singapore had good water. From geography alone I would assume it's water would be bad.
Washington state, or Washington D.C.? Because D.C.'s water is actually so bad it can be dangerous.
You can't even believe the water quality reports because the Federal agencies distort them wildly. There was a massive scandal that resulted in both the CDC and EPA being caught falsifying evidence.
See the WASA lead contamination scandal from 2001-2010, in which the EPA falsely claimed that the water was safe, even as their treatment chemicals were dissolving lead in pipes and joints. The CDC was charged with determining the extent of the problem, and claimed that the high levels of lead were not a public health risk, a claim that later investigators from independent institutions stated were "scientifically indefensible."
Lead levels in the last decade were found to be as high as 83 times the acceptable standard for drinking water.
The water comes from the Potomac, is heavily treated with chloramine (which unlike chlorine dissolves lead), then runs through mains which were laid generally between the Civil War and WWI, and finally into old 5-6 story buildings (which due to height restrictions are often remodeled but seldom rebuilt), almost all of which have lead in the plumbing.
The water is so bad that even the heavily filtered water at my home has a terrible taste.
The government claims that the problem is "almost certainly resolved" after the addition of further treatment chemicals, not including the removal of chloramine, which frankly makes their claims implausible.
The Washington Post estimates that ~15,000 households in the city are still receiving extremely high dosages of lead.
Oh, and the Potomac is essentially sludge downstream from the city. The beautiful waterfront in Georgetown is actually the site of a CSO (Combined Sewer Overflow), so that every time it rains, the city's untreated sewage is dumped at the very location where the river is most used.
The lead is in the mains, and with most of the apartments in any decent neighborhood approaching 1 million for a two bedroom, it's not like you can purchase a building and replace the plumbing.
The problem is a government that injected a cheaper treatment chemical into the water supply that dissolves that lead, and then lies about it to the public.
Dashing this off from the Christmas table, so as expected most immediate Google results are the government pages. Here's the replacement description. You'll notice that they're still actively replacing mains (at an extraordinarily slow rate, essentially whenever a line needs service.) If memory serves, the main line for half the city was laid during the Lincoln administration.
I believe the average annual replacement rate is around 1%.
Just came back from Singapore. The water is nice indeed. Hasn't a chalky taste. I found the water in New York (Manhattan) too chalky as well.
This is the water purification setup near my home, Rotterdam, the Netherlands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbGw8FH3I58. I guess it's a setup like everywhere else. Of course the Dutch have a name in the water industry, so there might be more reason to do it right than in other countries.
Still, there are plenty of things to improve.
- The systems for sewerage and surface water / rain are not separated everywhere for example.
- The "Hoogheemraadschap" responsible for keeping surface water clean is the oldest political system in Holland. At first sight a nice idea, but do we really have to democratically elect these people? What about firefighters, police officers, army generals?
- A friend of mine organizes a yearly swimming event in the Maas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meuse). It's still not as clean as it could be though. The industry, for example Sitech, dumps chemicals in the water and institutions like the one above don't fine fast and high enough.
