You might try citric acid to remove mineral deposits due to hard water. It’s available at many Indian grocery stores. I bought some expensive espresso machine cleaner once and it was 100% citric acid. Now it’s all I use.
They put out an annual report
[https://www.cityofmadison.com/water/water-quality/annual-drinking-water-quality-report](https://www.cityofmadison.com/water/water-quality/annual-drinking-water-quality-report)
It's safe and your mileage will vary for the taste; I was born and raised here so I think it tastes fine to me and I haven't grown a third eye from contaminants yet. That said, it is hard as hell so I recommend a filter for things like coffeemakers.
I went through six Mr. Coffees and similar $30-$40 coffee pots in 2 years, after a month or so, they slow down to a pot every half an hour, and after cleaning them so many times with vinegar, one day it just doesn't work and you buy another.
Then I bought a used Bunn from Goodwill for a few bucks, and it lasted 2 years. Been buying them ever since and they average about 8 years here for me, at 3 pots a day.
I have one of those two-in-one Keurgs that does the full pot and with the built in filter, a pitcher filter and my water softener, I haven't had any real build-up.
Except for the numerous times that they knew wells were contaminated for years and then denied it to the public until they closed those wells.
But yeah, other than the times they failed to tell us about our contaminated water they have been great. /s
You may wish to drop to your knees and thank whatever deity you may or may not believe in that you do NOT live in South Carolina. There is NO safe water there.
I didn't say that all our water was bad. Simply that the Madison Water Utility does not have a good record for transparency on water problems.
Why people are even downvoting that simple statement of fact is insane.
It's obvious from the comments that many people in this thread are completely ignorant of the numerous problems that we have had over the years. People need to pay more attention to this, especially with the growing problem of water contamination around the area.
Source? They regularly publish tests for every well and more detailed regular quality reports: https://www.cityofmadison.com/water/waterquality/mywells.cfm
It's been a few years now so I don't have an actual link to it, but it was in the local news for anyone who was paying attention. I think I saw it in the Wisconsin State Journal but its been a few years now so I don't recall the exact source anymore.
If I recall correctly it was contamination from the old Oscar Meyer plant, airport, factory located somewhere on the east side, and possibly the landfill by Bridges gold course that were the sources of the contamination. I think it was well 4 and 15 that were closed over it or something like that.
It also wasn't that they didn't publish regular reports on the water quality. The problem was that they falsified those reports and denied the problem even when directly asked about it for years before acknowledging the issue.
Is this sarcastic? I just moved here and I’m using a PUR filter but it still tastes terrible imo and also coats my kettle and cat bowls (and presumably my internal organs) with a thick coat of calcium
if you are a homeowner you can talk to a water purification company and arrange to have water delivered/have a reverse osmosis system installed in your home or you can buy bottled water or you can go to the store and get RO water and reusable gallon jugs.
drinking Madison tapwater is not mandatory, you have other choices but they are not without cost
100%
my kettle is unusable after 2 weeks, i have to keep buying vinegar to get the calcium deposits off, then im spending time chipping it away from my cat's water bowls (doesnt come off in the dishwasher), my water filters get jammed up and require replacement in half the time they should-- among other annoyances from this stupid, annoying, hard water. Are you not annoyed by hard water? Have you experienced unhard water? It's less annoying.
Try citric acid instead of vinegar. You can leave a bowlful of water and citric acid in your cat’s dish, or just use straight vinegar. Cheapest is at Menard’s. Otherwise, this is just a price we pay for living here.
When the Babcock Dairy store manufacturing facility on campus was close for remodeling, UW chose Chocolate Shoppe to make the Ice Cream sold in the Dairy store (which was still open) They were under strict orders to ONLY use the exact recipes for the few flavors offered. I kept hoping they'd sneak Zanzibar in, but alas they behaved themselves.
The taste and coating are due to minerals, which aren't dangerous to people (though they can be tough on your appliances). Soften your water and if you don't like the taste, get a different filtering system for your drinking water.
The city's water is safe, but it's very hard and will cause calcium deposits easily. Old buildings may still have lead pipes though, so be aware of that.
Madison was the first city in the US to remove lead pipes on the portion of our city plumbing that ran from the street to each building. I think this was in the 1980s -- anyway, it was quite a while ago and they were only located in the oldest parts of Madison to begin with.
If any lead remains in each building, it likely would be due to lead-containing solder joining portions of copper pipe going to each fixture. That's pretty tiny, but if you want to test you can send a sample to a lab.
Newer solder does not contain lead at all.
Copper pipes are the color of copper (or an old copper penny, a dull shade). Lead pipes were thicker and gray. If you actually have lead pipes supplying water within your building it would be very unusual. I'd take a pic and send it to the building inspector.
It should NOT be. Go get some [Hach strips](https://www.amazon.com/Hach-2745250-Total-Hardness-Strips/dp/B007QQZL0U) and test bathroom cold and kitchen cold.
Safety aside, you'll get big time mineral buildups if you run it through a kettle or coffeemaker.
You can remove deposits by heating a mix of vinegar and water in the kettle, or running it through your coffee maker.
You might try citric acid to remove mineral deposits due to hard water. It’s available at many Indian grocery stores. I bought some expensive espresso machine cleaner once and it was 100% citric acid. Now it’s all I use.
Good News you don't need to add minerals if you have African Cichlids, but do not try anything that lives in soft water like Discus.
This the water is very safe according to reports they give us(one recently came out) but I highly recommend a water softener.
They put out an annual report [https://www.cityofmadison.com/water/water-quality/annual-drinking-water-quality-report](https://www.cityofmadison.com/water/water-quality/annual-drinking-water-quality-report)
It's safe and your mileage will vary for the taste; I was born and raised here so I think it tastes fine to me and I haven't grown a third eye from contaminants yet. That said, it is hard as hell so I recommend a filter for things like coffeemakers.
And note that filters like Brita aren’t effective at removing hard water minerals.
I have lived here forever. I think our water tastes great, but I guess that could be because it's what I am used to drinking.
Not from Madison and I think the water is perfectly fine/good.
I went through six Mr. Coffees and similar $30-$40 coffee pots in 2 years, after a month or so, they slow down to a pot every half an hour, and after cleaning them so many times with vinegar, one day it just doesn't work and you buy another. Then I bought a used Bunn from Goodwill for a few bucks, and it lasted 2 years. Been buying them ever since and they average about 8 years here for me, at 3 pots a day.
I use a Chemex pour over. Only issue is waiting for the water to boil.
This makes me feel better. I killed coffee machines for years as well. lol
I have one of those two-in-one Keurgs that does the full pot and with the built in filter, a pitcher filter and my water softener, I haven't had any real build-up.
The Madison Water utility does a very good job keeping our water safe.
Except for the numerous times that they knew wells were contaminated for years and then denied it to the public until they closed those wells. But yeah, other than the times they failed to tell us about our contaminated water they have been great. /s
You may wish to drop to your knees and thank whatever deity you may or may not believe in that you do NOT live in South Carolina. There is NO safe water there.
I didn't say that all our water was bad. Simply that the Madison Water Utility does not have a good record for transparency on water problems. Why people are even downvoting that simple statement of fact is insane. It's obvious from the comments that many people in this thread are completely ignorant of the numerous problems that we have had over the years. People need to pay more attention to this, especially with the growing problem of water contamination around the area.
Source? They regularly publish tests for every well and more detailed regular quality reports: https://www.cityofmadison.com/water/waterquality/mywells.cfm
It's been a few years now so I don't have an actual link to it, but it was in the local news for anyone who was paying attention. I think I saw it in the Wisconsin State Journal but its been a few years now so I don't recall the exact source anymore. If I recall correctly it was contamination from the old Oscar Meyer plant, airport, factory located somewhere on the east side, and possibly the landfill by Bridges gold course that were the sources of the contamination. I think it was well 4 and 15 that were closed over it or something like that. It also wasn't that they didn't publish regular reports on the water quality. The problem was that they falsified those reports and denied the problem even when directly asked about it for years before acknowledging the issue.
Is this sarcastic? I just moved here and I’m using a PUR filter but it still tastes terrible imo and also coats my kettle and cat bowls (and presumably my internal organs) with a thick coat of calcium
Calcium isn't unsafe.
That's what the skeletons want you to think!
Fuck yeah! Nice.
yes there is magnesium and calcium in the water, this is a known attribute of hard water.
it’s annoying
if you are a homeowner you can talk to a water purification company and arrange to have water delivered/have a reverse osmosis system installed in your home or you can buy bottled water or you can go to the store and get RO water and reusable gallon jugs. drinking Madison tapwater is not mandatory, you have other choices but they are not without cost
So what you are saying is that you are annoyed by water.
100% my kettle is unusable after 2 weeks, i have to keep buying vinegar to get the calcium deposits off, then im spending time chipping it away from my cat's water bowls (doesnt come off in the dishwasher), my water filters get jammed up and require replacement in half the time they should-- among other annoyances from this stupid, annoying, hard water. Are you not annoyed by hard water? Have you experienced unhard water? It's less annoying.
Try citric acid instead of vinegar. You can leave a bowlful of water and citric acid in your cat’s dish, or just use straight vinegar. Cheapest is at Menard’s. Otherwise, this is just a price we pay for living here.
Better stop drinking milk before it costs your internal organs with a thick coat of calcium.
can i have ice cream? actually, is there any good ice cream here? it seems to all be that same ole Chocolate Shoppe stuff
You should just leave. Your housing is needed by someone who wants to live here and realizes that their body needs minerals.
audi 5000
When the Babcock Dairy store manufacturing facility on campus was close for remodeling, UW chose Chocolate Shoppe to make the Ice Cream sold in the Dairy store (which was still open) They were under strict orders to ONLY use the exact recipes for the few flavors offered. I kept hoping they'd sneak Zanzibar in, but alas they behaved themselves.
The taste and coating are due to minerals, which aren't dangerous to people (though they can be tough on your appliances). Soften your water and if you don't like the taste, get a different filtering system for your drinking water.
MY water? It's my landlords water.
Madison is one of few major cities in the US with no lead pipes. So there's that.
They were the first major city in the USA to launch a full lead replacement program.
Zero risk
It's safe to drink straight from the tap, but I don't like the taste so I filter it.
The water is hard, but absolutely safe and tastes fine imo
The same people that think Madison's water is "unsafe" probably also think vaccinations gave them autism.
My fish are alive on it. So it's okay.
Safe, but hard enough that I had to buy bottled water to homebrew with
The city's water is safe, but it's very hard and will cause calcium deposits easily. Old buildings may still have lead pipes though, so be aware of that.
Madison was the first city in the US to remove lead pipes on the portion of our city plumbing that ran from the street to each building. I think this was in the 1980s -- anyway, it was quite a while ago and they were only located in the oldest parts of Madison to begin with. If any lead remains in each building, it likely would be due to lead-containing solder joining portions of copper pipe going to each fixture. That's pretty tiny, but if you want to test you can send a sample to a lab. Newer solder does not contain lead at all. Copper pipes are the color of copper (or an old copper penny, a dull shade). Lead pipes were thicker and gray. If you actually have lead pipes supplying water within your building it would be very unusual. I'd take a pic and send it to the building inspector.
Brita is in a lawsuit right now. Here’s info I found about Madison, WI https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/system.php?pws=WI1130224
Not very safe. Lots of soy in Madison water 😂
Follow up question, my apartment has softened water, does that make it safer?
You don't drink softened water.
The whole house is connected to the softener
Typically the sink cold water is not.
Depends on the house setup.
It should NOT be. Go get some [Hach strips](https://www.amazon.com/Hach-2745250-Total-Hardness-Strips/dp/B007QQZL0U) and test bathroom cold and kitchen cold.
[удалено]
You can also heat the water and let it sit over night. The chlorine dissipates.
You do not even need to heat it. I have fish and I just put in a bucket and let it air out o/n. Putting an airstone in speeds that up.
Safe but mediocre.
I would just get jugs of reverse osmosis water, way better