[Question] Tap Water and Filtration

I’ve been wondering about the safety and quality of the tap water in my city. I’ve always been assured that it’s clean right out the tap. But I spent this past year living rurally with a groundwater well on-site, and when I visited the city I was struck by how bad the tap water tasted to me.

Given its frequency of use in all our lives, I am generally surprised by the lack of discussion around water quality in my circles. It seems like nobody talks about it, and almost everyone I know drinks (and cooks with etc) what I now consider bad-tasting tap water. Does anyone have good leads or resources on this topic? I’d like to learn more and am unsure where to look first.

Some questions under consideration:

  • What is ‘safe’ to drink?

  • What makes water quality good vs bad?

  • Are taste and safety/​quality correlated?

  • Any recommended water quality tests?

  • To filter or not to filter?

  • Which filtering methods actually work?

  • What questions would you be asking?