Is drinking the water from a water fountain the same water from a faucet?
Asked by
Steve_A (
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)
July 3rd, 2010
I was thinking yes, but I was not sure. Someone told me some water fountains do have filters of some sort. Which he told me were not that great anyways.
But other than that what is the difference if indeed it is the same water?Besides being cold :) I mean if you are okay with drinking water from a water fountain and it is the same type of water from a faucet…..Why not just fill up bottles or jugs with that?
Seems more economical doesn’t it?
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28 Answers
I’d say it’s more like drinking from the hose.
Meaning it probably won’t kill you, but it’s most likely better suited for your lawn.
Even if it looks clear the Chlorine concentration in the water could cause cancer or other related disease.
@Doctor_D I just find it funny because if it is the same water, people don’t seem to mind drinking as much as they like from public fountains yet if told them it came from a faucet, they would likely not drink it.But it is the same water….
@cheebdragon The goverment doesn’t recommend it….
Not true.
That is a list of possible contaminants in water.
It’s not a list of common contaminants, their prevalence or a recommendation against drinking tap water.
Well maybe we live in different country. In some country public-sourced water is not chlorine free,depends on what method the authorities or your government use to produce this water and in my country we haven’t established the chlorine filter yet. If you’re not talking about raw,polluted,and chlorined water then the problem lies in the consumers themselves.
Generally there is not going to be a separate water source for faucets vs. fountains.
@Doctor_D I don’t know if in the U.S. if each state has different rules or laws on the water for faucets or fountains. Or tap water in general I guess.
I think that drinking from fountain is disgusting and dangerous. I mean who forbids to the birds to shit in it and take a bath in it, and for the dogs and cats to drink from it? I think it’s more disgusting than drinking from the toilet… Not like I would recommend that either
The water from faucets, fountains, hoses, and even toilets is generally going to all be from the same municipal supply. The difference is pretty much what happens to it once it hits the mechanism by which it is delivered. Drinking from a hose or toilet, for example, is gross not because the water is from a different source, but because the hose or basin itself are potentially contaminated. Fountains are potentially contaminated too, but probably not as badly as toilets. And if you’re thirsty enough to drink from a fountain, well, that’s what we have immune systems for. Giving them some routine germs to take care of from time to time keeps the system primed for when something worse comes along.
If your city is anything like mine, they make available a report about what’s in your water. (If you click on that link, it goes to my city’s PDF report. You may have to click “cancel” a time or two to read it.) That’s the water that gets sent through the municipal system, feeding everything from home faucets to watering the park lawns.
Lol to “same as a hose”! OMG.
YES. As someone who was designed plumbing systems, I can vouch with certainty that the POTABLE water fed to your bathroom sink, kitchen sink, toilet (in most places unless local code allows greywater to be used), water fountain, hoses IS ALL FROM EXACTLY THE SAME PLACE.
I have been drinking from water fountains and hoses my whole life and have never contracted a water borne disease.
Most places wipe their fountains down with disinfectant on a regular basis. Even if the fountain or hose mouth is dirty, I think the chances of contracting a disease from drinking from them is very small. Shit man, people are so ridiculously paranoid about germs in this country – it totally disgusts me.
Some places choose to chlorinate the water at drinking fountains – you can taste the difference. Others may choose to charcoal filter it first. If the water is clean to begin with, there really is no need to do either – again, at least in Hawaii where 99% of potable water is groundwater, it is paranoia and germophobia that causes people to take such excessively stupid measures.
Technically the term “drinking fountain” corresponds to a fountain that feeds unrefrigerated water, I believe. The term “electric water cooler” indicates one that chills the water.
@lilikoi Are you talking about public fountains, like in the middle of a city at some park or square, or you talking about fountain in your garden or a smaller in your living room?
’Are you talking about public fountains, like in the middle of a city at some park or square, or you talking about fountain in your garden or a smaller in your living room?
I live in a civilized part of the world. We have clean drinking water, right from the tap in everyone’s home. I like to bicycle through the parks, and when I’m thirsty I drink from the fountains thoughtfully provided by the park district.
Maybe you live in Somalia or wherever, but seriously, you can safely go out in public and survive in some cities. For real.
Someone told me once tha the refrigerated fountains have filters. I don’t know if that is true though. If they do the filters would remove some of the chemicals used in public water systems. Otherwise, like others said above it is tap water, well it is all tap water really. If it has a filter it would be similar to the one in refrigerators or a Brita system. There is not separate water for each part of the house or for commercial buildings, etc.
@Steve_A Well it says there is purfying equipment, so it probably does have some sort of filter to help filter chemicals out. In America we do not purify for bacteria or parasites at the fountain or faucet, that is done by the public treatment plant, which is one of the main reasons why there are chemicals in our water supply to kill the bacteria and parasites.
@Otto_King I am talking about public drinking fountains – in buildings, in parks, at the beach, in cities, in suburbs, in rural areas, schools. I don’t have a private water fountain in my backyard, and I certainly would never install a fountain in my living room.
Just to clarify, the type of purification system used – if any – for drinking fountains / electric water coolers varies.
@jaytkay I’m living in Norway, not in Somalia (no offense for Somalian people) but even here the civilized part of the people ( not homelesses, people from your country, etc ) are not drinking from public fountains. That’s why they invented small shops which are located quite close to each other, to go in and buy a bottle of water when you get thirsty during jogging, cycling. But you can just keep drink from public fountains like a dog, and quit from this topic.
@jaytkay The first two we don’t even have it here… :) I think we misunderstood each other.
@jaytkay and we don’t have the last onw either…
@Otto_King That is interesting, drinking fountains are very common in US parks.
The dog drinking found is rare. I included it only because you mentioned dogs.
the ones that makes noise produce the best cold, most cooling and clean refreshing water you can have. had them in my old highschool. the only thing i miss from highschool.
Well yes because there’s no purifier in either of the waters and from experience, my schools the fountains had led in them. so there is the possibility of that. but by the fountain being public, it’s just nasty recycled water. so their basically the same
@PLAYMATE The water in public drinking fountains is not recycled. Learn a little bit about plumbing before giving an answer like that.
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