Surely the many miles of underground pipes are a breeding ground for microbes, right?
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>tap water is safe to drink
This is highly debatable. While tap water is typically safe from microbes due to the chlorine that is added, there are potentially many other detrimental chemicals that may be present.
You must consider the source of where the tap water came from. Typically tap water comes from a municipal water treatment plant. This is where any large particles are filtered out, and the water goes through a biological “cleaning” process. Bacteria eats up any organic material, then additives like chlorine and fluoride are added.
There are many different types of smaller particles, however, that are not always filtered out by these processes. These include microplastics, herbacides, pesticides, some heavy metals, and other contaminants. The water that goes down the drain is eventually recycled back into the water system, so many of these “forever chemicals” are just cycled through over and over, leading to increasing concentrations.
Common water filters, such as a Brita, or even reverse osmosis filters, may be useful in removing some of these contaminants, such as heavy metals (lead, mercury, uranium, etc.), however there are many chemicals, such as pesticides, that are not removed by these filters.
TL:DR Do not drink tap water unless it is absolutely necessary, and then only very sparingly.
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