Drinking Water

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Latest News
• 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

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

• Drinking Water (Environmental Health Student Portal) (National Library of Medicine)
• Drinking Water FAQ (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Healthy Water (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Nutrition and Healthy Eating: How Much Water Should You Drink Each Day? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Water (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)

Latest News

• How Safe Is Your Drinking Water? Take a Look (08/23/2017, HealthDay)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Cryptosporidium: A Guide to Water Filters (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Related Issues

• Drinking Water Contaminants -- Standards and Regulations (Environmental Protection Agency)
• Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) Also in Spanish
• Keep Food and Water Safe After a Disaster or Power Outage (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Lead and Drinking Water from Private Wells (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Safety of Bottled Water Beverages Including Flavored Water and Nutrient-Added Water Beverages (Food and Drug Administration)
• Tox Town (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Bottled Water Everywhere: Keeping it Safe (Food and Drug Administration)
• Giardia and Drinking Water from Private Wells (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Parasites: Water (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Water on Tap: What You Need to Know (Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water) - PDF Also in Spanish

Images

• Arsenic in Ground Water of the United States (U.S. Geological Survey)

Statistics and Research

• Fluoridated Water (National Cancer Institute)

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

• Article: Consistency of Use and Effectiveness of Household Water Treatment among...
• Article: Optimizing Household Chlorination Marketing Strategies: A Randomized Controlled Trial on...
• Article: Burden of Disease Attributed to Waterborne Transmission of Selected Enteric...
• 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)
• Water (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)