Surely the many miles of underground pipes are a breeding ground for microbes, right?
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I see a lot of the chemical answers here but not one that is very important to understand for people on municipal water system: water pressure. Pipe systems are under positive pressure always. This means that when there is a break in the pipe, water will flow out of it instead of contaminants leaking in. This is usually seen at pipe joints, and it allows the station(s) to monitor for leaks and find out where they are and then fix them. Why is this important? Soil bacteria. You don’t want them getting into your supply after you did all the sanitizing steps you went through. So when the water pressure drops due to a power outage or a large break and leak, the municipality will issue a boil water warning because they can’t assure you that bacteria didn’t get in after treatment. This is the real way water is kept safe in the pipes, it is not to do with residual chemicals or copper pipes or anything. Well, very little to do with it.
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