Boiling Tap Water for Drinking: Benefits & Risks

  • Thread starter Thread starter Herbascious J
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Boiling Water
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the practice of boiling tap water for drinking purposes, focusing on the benefits and potential risks associated with this method. Participants explore the effects of boiling on water quality, including taste, mineral concentration, and safety, while considering various perspectives on the necessity and implications of the boiling process.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions boiling tap water for 30 minutes to eliminate chloramines and chlorine, expressing concerns about concentrating minerals and metals.
  • Another participant doubts that the boiling process significantly increases mineral concentration compared to other safe water sources.
  • A different contribution suggests that boiling should not introduce adverse effects if the container is uncontaminated, noting that it may elevate mineral concentrations and cause precipitation of saturated substances.
  • One participant argues that boiling is primarily for killing bacteria and viruses, questioning the necessity of a 25-30 minute boiling duration.
  • Another participant states that boiling water typically makes it softer due to the reduced solubility of alkaline Earth carbonates in hot water, unless precipitated minerals are consumed without decanting.
  • A participant references a water quality report, highlighting fluoride levels and the potential risk of concentrating it to near the maximum recommended level through boiling.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the effects of boiling on water hardness and mineral concentration, with no consensus reached on the necessity of the boiling duration or the implications of concentrating certain minerals.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge various assumptions, such as the cleanliness of boiling containers and the specific water quality characteristics of the East Bay Area, which may influence the discussion. The potential for concentrating fluoride and other minerals remains unresolved.

Herbascious J
Messages
165
Reaction score
7
TL;DR
Recently I have been boiling tap water, for about 30 minutes, everyday for drinking water.
Recently I have been boiling tap water, for about 30 minutes, everyday for drinking water. The reason I do it is because I don't like the taste of chlorimines and chlorine and this is the only way I know to get rid of them without also losing minerals. It works great, and in fact, the water tastes slightly 'harder' if that makes sense, I'm guessing due to the concentrating of the minerals as the water loses H2O to steam. Because I boil for 30 mintues, I lose approximately 15-20% of the volume of water. My question is; does this present any issues for daily drinking water? I live in the California East Bay Area and we have outstanding water from the Mokulumne water shed in the Sierra Nevada mountains north of Yosemite and south of Lake Tahoe. Some concerns I have is if I'm concentrating minerals too much, metals too much, or even concentrating pH buffers and raising alkalinity. I'm curious to hear any angle people would like to discuss about this topic no matter how eccentric. Cheers and thank you.
 
Chemistry news on Phys.org
I doubt changes in the concentrations you are introducing make the water harder/contain more minerals than water from other safe sources.
 
Assuming your boiling container is free from possible contamination, this process should provide no adverse effects. It should mildly elevate concentrations of minerals and might cause precipitation of anything saturated.
Also makes it easier to make tea or coffee...
 
Boiling water is for the purpose of killing off/rendering inert bacteria and viruses. 25-30min sounds unnecessary.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Herbascious J and phinds
Boiling water usually makes water softer. The solubility of alkaline Earth carbonates is less in hot water than cold. That is, unless you are drinking the slurry of precipitated minerals without decanting.

I also looked at the 2019 Annual Water Quality Report and the only contaminant you need to watch is the fluoride. It is currently controlled to a max level of 0.8 ppm. Concentrating that by 20% brings it to ~1 ppm which is 1 ppm away from the max recommended level of 2 ppm. Not a big problem, though.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Informative
Likes   Reactions: ChemAir, BillTre, Herbascious J and 1 other person

Similar threads

Perfect Espresso Water Chemistry
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
5K
Just curious about many things like hydrostatics
  • · Replies 28 ·
Replies
28
Views
4K
Walker Lane geologic trough - E. California, W. Nevada
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
5K
Undergrad What happens when you put inert electrodes @ 220V/50Hz in tap water?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
8K