Drinking Water

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Prevention and Risk Factors

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• Images

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Women

Summary

We all need to drink water. How much you need depends on your size, activity level, and the weather where you live.

The water you drink is a combination of surface water and groundwater. Surface water includes rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Groundwater comes from underground. The United States has one of the safest water supplies in the world, but drinking water quality can vary from place to place. It depends on the condition of the source water and the treatment it receives. Treatment may include adding fluoride to prevent cavities and chlorine to kill germs.

Your water supplier must give you annual reports on drinking water. The reports include where your water came from and what contaminants are in it.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Start Here

• About Drinking Water (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Bottled Water Basics (Environmental Protection Agency) - PDF
• Nutrition and Healthy Eating: How Much Water Should You Drink Each Day? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Water (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• About Choosing Home Water Filters (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Related Issues

• About Lead in Drinking Water (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Basic Information about Your Drinking Water (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water (Environmental Protection Agency) Also in Spanish
• How EPA Regulates Drinking Water Contaminants (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Keep Food Safe after a Disaster or Emergency (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Persistence of Plastics: Can Tiny Plastic Pieces Affect Our Health? (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• Safety of Bottled Water Beverages Including Flavored Water and Nutrient-Added Water Beverages (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Basic Information about Lead in Drinking Water (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Bottled Water Everywhere: Keeping it Safe (Food and Drug Administration) Also in Spanish
• Germs That Can Contaminate Tap Water (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Water on Tap: What You Need to Know (Environmental Protection Agency) - PDF Also in Spanish

Images

• Arsenic and Drinking Water (U.S. Geological Survey)

Statistics and Research

• Fast Facts: Data on Water Consumption (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Human health risk assessment of nitrate in repeatedly boiled water using...
• Article: Geospatial mapping of microbial contaminants and public health risks in Lahore's...
• Article: Cholera outbreak associated with drinking contaminated river water in Kayunga District,...
• Drinking Water -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also in Spanish
• National Center for Environmental Health (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Also in Spanish

Children

• Why Drinking Water Is the Way to Go (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Quiz: Water and Your Health (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)

Women

• Drinking Tap Water during Pregnancy (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish