can someone explain how tap water is safe to drink?

Question

Surely the many miles of underground pipes are a breeding ground for microbes, right?

In: 122

Answer 1

It isn’t. You should always use a filter. The infrastructure used to be safe but lack of proper maintenance has basically made all tap water unsafe. (With some rare exceptions)
In many situations water treatment plants get around this problem by adding more chemicals to sanitize it. Most of these chemicals and trace particulates that remain can be removed by a simple Brita type filter though.