It was an innocuous practice at first: my husband would wake up thirsty about midnight, shuffle to the bathroom, and drink straight from the tap instead of going to the kitchen. At first, I thought it was funny.
But after months of watching him do it, I got tired of it.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how the water in the bathroom wasn’t as clear and clean as the water from our kitchen sink. He always said, “Water’s water.” Still, one night I couldn’t help but be curious, even though I was a little scared. I wanted to know if he was right or if my gut feeling was right.
I was extremely surprised by what I learnt. Even while both taps normally pull from the same water source, the plumbing inside the house might make a big difference. Most of the time, kitchen faucets are connected directly to the main cold-water line, which keeps the water cleaner and fresher.
Bathroom taps, on the other hand, might be connected to older or supplementary pipes, or even a tank on the roof or in the attic. That implies that over time, dirt, germs, or small amounts of metals can get into the water. So, even if it looks completely clear, it could not be as clean as it looks.
I did a tiny test at home to show that I was right.
I put two glasses next to each other: one from the restroom and one from the kitchen. The difference was minor but easy to see: the water in the kitchen gleamed, whereas the glass in the bathroom seemed a little cloudy.
When I tasted the water in the bathroom, it had a slight metallic taste. My partner still didn’t trust me, so I bought a home testing kit. The results confirmed what I thought: the bathroom sample had a little more hardness and trace metals. It’s not bad for your health, but it might not be the best thing to eat every day.
Experts say that bathroom tap water is normally safe, but you should only use it to brush your teeth or wash your hands. You can either let it run for a few seconds to get rid of any old water or put it through a little filter.
In the end, the best thing to do was to have a water bottle by the bed. That’s what my husband does now, ever since the night he spit out a mouthful of lavatory water that tasted like metal and finally admitted I was right all along. It seems that convenience isn’t always worth the cost.