Taste Buds Don't Lie: Recycled Water Tastes as Good as Bottled Water

David Downey reports on the results of a blind taste test conducted by researchers at the University of California, Riverside that pitted recycled water (otherwise known as toilet-to-tap water) against bottled water and tap water.

The researchers "found that people prefer [recycled water] flavor over tap water and that they like it as much as bottled water."

How could that be? UCR’s Daniel Harmon explains, as quoted in the article: "Bottled water and recycled water go through more or less identical purification processes," otherwise known as reverse osmosis.

"The study is encouraging, water officials say, because it comes at a time when Southern California is having to rely increasingly more on recycled water, and not just for turf and crop irrigation," according to Downey.