Should You Drink Tap Water in 2025?
Is your tap water safe to drink, or should you be testing and filtering for heavy metals and water quality? It’s not a simple yes or no question. Let’s look at the reality of UK tap water in 2025.
Is Tap Water Healthy?
The short answer is UK tap water is generally healthy to drink. It's among the safest in the world, with strict regulations and regular testing. The Drinking Water Inspectorate monitors 50+ parameters, from bacteria to chemical levels, and publishes annual reports showing compliance rates of over 99%.
But water quality can vary depending on where you live. Things like infrastructure, the age of pipes, and local water treatment processes can change your water quality. Some areas have hard water with higher mineral content, others might have slightly higher levels of certain chemicals. And it’s good to know about this stuff, so you can make an informed choice.
Is Tap Water or Bottled Water Better?
Water quality - tap water is more heavily regulated than bottled water in the UK. Bottled water companies don't have to test as frequently, and some bottled waters are just filtered tap water. Others come from natural springs and can contain minerals at surprisingly high levels.
Cost – the maths is brutal for bottled water. Tap water costs about 0.1p per litre, bottled water averages £1-3 per litre. If you're drinking the 2-3 litres a day, that’s £700-2000 a year in bottled water.
Environmental impact - single-use plastic bottles are an environmental nightmare. Even if you recycle, the production and transport of bottled water creates about 1000 x the carbon emissions of tap water.
Convenience - bottled water is good to grab-and-go, but a decent reusable bottle eliminates this advantage.
Taste - some people prefer the taste of certain bottled waters, but if your tap water tastes of chlorine or has a weird flavour, a filter often sorts that out.
What Are Heavy Metals?
Heavy metals sound scary, but all it means is metallic elements that are denser than water (like lead, mercury, copper). Some, like iron and zinc, are essential nutrients. Others, like lead and mercury, can be harmful even in tiny quantities.
Heavy metals you might find in tap water:
• Lead (usually from old pipes)
• Copper (often from household plumbing)
• Iron (naturally occurring, gives water a metallic taste)
• Arsenic (naturally present in some groundwater)
• Mercury (rare, but can come from industrial pollution)
The detail is in the dosage. Trace amounts of these metals aren't necessarily harmful. What matters is concentration and/or long-term exposure. UK water companies are required to keep heavy metals well below safety limits set by health authorities. Whether or not you agree with those limits is another matter.
Why Does Tap Water Quality Matter?
You already know that hydration is important for training and general health. Poor water quality can affect your energy levels and recovery (if you don’t drink enough because your water tastes strange), digestive health (heavily chlorinated water can be irritating), skin and hair (hard water can be drying). But these problems are more about taste preference than health risks.
Can You Test for Heavy Metals in Tap Water?
Yes, and it’s easier than we thought. You can get home test kits online for £15-50 which will test tap water for lead, copper, iron, mercury, arsenic, and other common contaminants and tell you the concentration compared to safety guidelines.
What should you do with worrying results? If something's elevated but still within safe ranges, you could install a filter. If anything's genuinely high, contact your water company - they're required to investigate issues and sort them out.
Most people don't need to test their water unless they have health concerns, live in an old property with original pipes, or notice the taste or colour of the tap water changing.
How to Have Cleaner Tap Water at Home
Filtering your tap water puts you in control of quality and taste – and there are lots of options to suit most budgets.
Filter jugs (£15-40) - simple, cost-effective, and a good way to improve taste by removing chlorine. They reduce some heavy metals but not to a massive degree.
Tap-mounted filters (£20-100) - screw onto your tap and filter water as it comes out. More convenient than jugs and often more thorough filtration. A good middle-ground option.
Under-sink systems (£100-500) - better filtration, convenient, and hidden away out of sight. Upfront cost but cheaper than bottled water in the long run.
Whole-house systems (£500+) - filters all water coming into your home. Only worth considering if you have serious water quality issues or very hard water that affects household appliances.
Hydration without stress
UK tap water is safe, regulated, and perfectly adequate for staying hydrated and healthy. It's good to be curious about how healthy these things are, especially as the water infrastructure gets older.
But not drinking enough water is the bigger risk. If you're worried about water quality, test it. If you don't like the taste, filter it. If you're happy with what comes out of your tap, carry on. Don’t let worries about water quality impact your hydration levels (or your bank balance). Keep hydrated and keep moving!
